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Palestinian bus driver stabbed in Jerusalem

Three Israelis reportedly attacked Mohammed Abu Nab, 42, a Palestinian resident of occupied East Jerusalem, leaving him wounded
An Israeli police vehicle mans a checkpoint amidst security preparations for the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, on 15 September 2021 (AFP)

A group of Israelis stabbed a Palestinian bus driver in western Jerusalem on Friday morning, leaving him with moderate injuries.

The wounded driver was identified as Mohammed Abu Nab, 42, a Palestinian resident of the occupied East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Silwan and a bus driver for state-owned company Egged, Israel's most extensive transport operator.

A spokesperson for Magen David Adom, Israel's emergency health service, said they received a call at 8.30am regarding a stabbing incident in Jerusalem.

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Israeli police said it had opened an investigation into "a brawl" between three Israelis driving a car and Abu Nab, following a heated argument while they were stuck in a traffic jam.

According to paramedics who rushed to the scene, Abu Nab sustained moderate injuries and was hospitalised at Shaare Zedek Medical Centre in Jerusalem, where his condition was said to be stable.

Khaled Abu Tayeh, a member of the Silwan Lands Defence Committee, told official Palestinian Authority news agency Wafa that Abu Nab was stabbed twice in the back.

Anti-Palestinian attacks, including against Palestinian workers and Palestinian property, are frequent in Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank.

Such attacks are known as "price-tag" attacks, often carried out by settlers, and range from slashing car tyres and painting anti-Palestinian slogans to physically assaulting Palestinians.

In November 2014, another Palestinian bus driver for Egged was reportedly attacked by Israeli settlers in Jerusalem and hanged.

Earlier that same year, 16-year-old Palestinian Mohammed Abu Khdeir was kidnapped from East Jerusalem's Shufaat neighbourhood by a group of settler youths and burnt to death, as part of a spate of violence that led to the 2014 Gaza war.

More recently, a far-right Israeli march stormed through the Old City of Jerusalem chanting "Death to Arabs" in April.

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