Israeli father of four, Rabbi Itamar Ben-Gal, 29, was killed in a terror stabbing attack on Monday afternoon outside the settlement of Ariel.
Ben Gal, was treated by civilian medics and military medical forces at the scene before he was evacuated to the hospital, where he died from his wounds.
The attack took place while he was waiting at a bus stop near the town of Ariel. He tried to call out for help but collapsed shortly after being attacked.
In a video of the attack, the assailant, identified as 19-year-old Israeli Arab, Abed al-Karim Adel Asi, got out of a yellow mini-van on the other side of the road, pulled out a knife from his backpack and stabbed the victim in his chest.
An off-duty IDF officer attempted to hit the fleeing terrorist with his car but he managed to get to a nearby vehicle, which sped away. As Al-Karim escaped, he dropped the knife and his bag with his identity card inside, identifying him as living in the Tel Aviv-Jaffa area. The terrorist is yet to be captured.
Ben-Gal, a resident of the Har Bracha settlement, was buried there on Tuesday. Knesset speaker Yuli Edelstein spoke at the funeral.
Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin tweeted that he was “deeply saddened” by the attack: “We all send comfort and strength to his widow, his four young children, his family and his students, who will never forget him”.
This is the second murder of an Israeli citizen in the West Bank this year. On 9th January, Rabbi Raziel Shevach was shot dead near his home close to the Havat Gilad outpost in the West Bank. Israeli security forces are still searching for one of his alleged killers.
