Ramle Arab Indicted for Stabbing 12-Year-Old

A 17-year-old Arab from Ramle who stabbed a 12-year-old boy last week was indicted Thursday, police said. The stabbing was undertaken for nationalistic reasons, the indictment said.

Police said that the Arab stabbed the boy a day after two 14-year-old Arab girls in Ramle stabbed an Israeli security guard near the Central Bus Station in the city. The two are being charged with attempted murder and possession of illegal weapons. The 17-year-old, police said, was “inspired” by that act to stab the 12-year-old.

Police said that the 17-year-old had a history of being involved in stabbing attacks. He was arrested twice for stabbing Ramle residents, but those incidents were considered criminal in nature.

Ramle is a mixed Jewish-Arab town that has remained particularly quiet during the recent terror wave.

Also Thursday, police said that a security guard in neighboring Lod was attacked outside a school, where he was securing the facility. The attacker grabbed the guard’s weapon and ran away. Police are searching for him.

Overnight Wednesday, security officials said they had arrested eight wanted security suspects in Yehudah and Shomron. The suspects were wanted for participating in rioting and throwing stones and firebombs that endangered Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers. Several of the suspects were also charged with belonging to Hamas. All were being questioned about their activities by security forces.