National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, a member of the Israeli far right, was the victim of a spectacular traffic accident which left three people lightly injured, according to the police.
This accident took place when the minister went to the site of an attack, in the suburbs of Tel Aviv. An 18-year-old woman was stabbed and seriously injured this Friday, rescuers and police announced, specifying that her assailant had been killed. Police did not immediately provide details on the identity or motive of the attacker.
The politician was slightly injured, according to a surgeon at the hospital where he was treated. He is being kept under observation this Friday evening.
“Maguen David Adom (MDA) rescuers took care of an 18-year-old woman, conscious, in serious condition, with an injury in the upper part of the body and evacuated her” to the hospital, indicated a spokesperson for this rescue service, specifying that the attacker had been killed. The Israeli police said in a statement that they were investigating “the circumstances of a knife attack in Ramla”. “The first findings show one person injured by a stab and one attacker neutralized.”
Knife attack
At the scene of the attack, in the town of Ramla, about twenty kilometers southeast of Tel Aviv, an AFP photographer saw a body, presented as that of the attacker, lying on the ground and covered with white plastic, with many police officers around. Ramla is home to a mixed Jewish and Arab population.
At the scene of the attack, Minister Itamar Ben Gvir told the press that the attacker had been shot dead by an armed citizen. This tough government official was pleased to have relaxed the rules and accelerated the process allowing Israeli citizens to carry a weapon, after the bloody attack carried out by the Palestinian movement on October 7 in Israeli territory.
On the way back, the car he was in suffered a spectacular accident. The police indicate in a press release that they are investigating “the circumstances of a traffic accident in Ramla, involving two vehicles including that of the Minister of National Security”. “Three people were slightly injured and evacuated” to a hospital, added the police, without specifying whether the minister was one of them. The minister’s office did not respond to calls from AFP.
Images broadcast by Israeli media show a black car, presented as that of the minister, overturned on its roof near a white car whose front hood is seriously damaged. A conscious man, whose face is not visible, is lying on his back, surrounded by numerous police and rescue workers, as well as armed men in civilian clothes.
Several stabbing attacks have taken place in Israel in recent weeks, against the backdrop of war between the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas and the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas carried out an unprecedented attack in southern Israel on October 7, which resulted in the death of 1,170 people, mainly civilians, according to an AFP report based on official Israeli data.
In response, Israel promised to wipe out the Palestinian movement, in power in Gaza since 2007, and launched an offensive which has so far left 34,356 dead, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health.
