Israel: Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir taken to hospital after serious car accident

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, a member of an Israeli far-right party, was the victim of a spectacular traffic accident that left three people slightly injured, police said. She did not specify whether the minister was among the victims.

The accident occurred when the minister went to the scene of the attack, in a suburb of Tel Aviv. This Friday, an 18-year-old woman was stabbed and seriously injured, rescuers and police said, adding that her attacker was killed. Police did not immediately provide details about the attacker’s identity or motive.

“Maguen David Adom (MDA) rescuers treated a conscious 18-year-old woman in serious condition with an upper body injury and evacuated her” to the hospital, a rescue spokesman said. , specifying that the attacker was killed. In a statement, Israeli police said they were investigating “the circumstances of the stabbing in Ramla.” “Initial results indicate that one person has been stabbed and one attacker has been 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, described as that of the attacker, lying on the ground and covered with white plastic, with many police around him. . 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. The hard-line government official was happy to relax the rules and speed up the process of allowing Israeli citizens to bear arms following the deadly Oct. 7 Palestinian attack inside Israel.

On the way back, the car he was in was involved in a spectacular accident. A police press release states that they are investigating “the circumstances of a road accident in Ramla involving two vehicles, including the car of the Minister of National Security.” “Three people were slightly injured and were evacuated” to hospital, police added, without specifying whether the minister was one of them. The minister’s office did not respond to AFP’s calls.

Footage broadcast by Israeli media showed a black car, described as the minister’s car, overturned on its roof next to a white car with severe damage to its front hood. A conscious man, whose face is not visible, lies on his back, surrounded by numerous police and rescue workers, as well as armed men in plain clothes.

There have been several stabbing attacks in Israel in recent weeks amid the 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, killing 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP report based on official Israeli figures.

In response, Israel vowed to destroy the Palestinian movement, which has held power in the Gaza Strip since 2007, and launched an offensive that has so far killed 34,356 people, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas Health Ministry.