Arab-Israeli stabbed by Palestinian assailant in Petah Tikvah

An Israeli man was stabbed several times in the neck by a Palestinian assailant in the central Israel city of Petah Tikvah.

The victim in Monday morning’s stabbing attack, an Arab Israeli, was taken to a local hospital with moderate wounds, Israel Police said.

The attacker, 21, from the West Bank Palestinian city of Qalqilya and in Israel illegally, was stopped by civilian bystanders while running away from the scene and wrestled to the ground before being turned over to the police, according to the Israel Police. He was arrested and taken for questioning.

The attacker, who has not been named, was previously jailed in Israel for activity against the state, the Times of Israel reported, citing the Israel Security Agency, or Shin Bet.

Israel Police said they are treating the incident as a nationalistic attack on an Israeli target.

The Palestinian assailant told investigators of the attack: “I did it for Al Aqsa,” according to reports.

There have been several terror attacks by Palestinians and Arabs against Israeli targets since the July 14 attack on the Temple Mount that left two Druze-Israeli security guards dead and led to the installation of metal detectors at Muslim entrances to the holy site.