03-Oct-15: Arab violence escalates in Jerusalem: Multiple stabbings in Old City tonight

The Old City of Jerusalem's Lions Gate in less violent times [Image Source]

The Sabbath is barely out and the reports of serious violence are coming in. Times of Israel says

Three Israelis were injured, one of them seriously, in a stabbing attack in Jerusalem’s Old City Saturday evening. According to police, the victims were part of the same family. Paramedics at the scene were treating the injured. The incident occurred near Lion’s Gate in East Jerusalem. The suspected attacker was shot by police and is said to be in serious condition.

Israel National News says

Three members of the same Israeli family have been wounded in a stabbing attack on Hazayit Street in Jerusalem's Old City on Saturday night, shortly after the end of Shabbat. According to reports the father of the family is in critical condition; his wife was moderately injured, and their young child was was lightly wounded. The terrorist is also seriously injured after being shot by security forces. The latest attack comes as Palestinian leaders continue to call for more violence against Israelis, on the heels of last week's deadly terrorist attack in which Arab terrorists murdered two parents in front of their children.

There have unfortunately - but only too predictably - been additional attacks on Israelis over the past 36 hours. More details when we can manage to sit down and edit the reports.

UPDATE 9:15 pm Saturday 03-Oct-15: A 40-year-old male, the father in the family we described above, was hospitalized at Jerusalem's Shaarei Tzedek Medical Center after this evening's attack in critical condition with multiple stab wounds. Tragically it's now reported that he died there. A second victim also succumbed to his wounds shortly after, according to Israel National News, and died this evening. The attacker, who was shot and critically injured by security forces, died of his wounds a short time later. No names at this stage. Residents of Jerusalem realize there is a deliberate campaign by the Arabs to escalate the lethal violence and are expecting the authorities to implement appropriate security measures as a matter of urgency.

UPDATE 9:30 pm Saturday 03-Oct-15 - The Jerusalem Post report on tonight's terror attack in Jerusalem's Old City:

According to Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld, the attack occurred at approximately 7:30 p.m., when the unidentified suspect began stabbing the family members while they were walking past Lion’s gate, en route to the Western Wall. After stabbing two others, Rosenfeld said the terrorist took a pistol from one of the victims and fired wildly into a crowd of tourists before being shot and killed by Border Police officer on patrol some 50 meters away.“The suspect opened fire in all directions and Border Police responded immediately and shot and killed him,” said Rosenfeld, adding that he did not believe anyone else was shot. “Police have cordoned off the area and are searching for a possible accomplice.” ...As of 8:30 p.m., police helicopters continued to circle the Old City as officers’ search for possible accomplices on the ground, although no arrests have been made.

UPDATE 9:45 pm Saturday 03-Oct-15 - The sicker corners of the Palestinian Arab world have already announced the identity of tonight's terrorist attacker. He's said [according to this Twitter account] to be Muhanad Shafeq Halabi, 19, from al-Bireh, near Ramallah on Jerusalem's northern periphery. And because of his frenzied attack on Jews walking peacefully in the alleys and through the gates of the national capital's Old City tourist precinct, Halabi qualifies - in their sociopathic system of values - as a "martyr". The attack itself is being termed a "resistance operation", a neat cover-all designed to bamboozle politically-minded innocents far from this region into not seeing the cold-blooded act of murderous hatred for what it is.