“Two bloodied knives used in an attack by Palestinian terrorists in Bet Shemesh on October 22, 2015. Photo: Twitter.

JNS.org – An Israeli man was lightly-to-moderately wounded in a stabbing attack in Beit Shemesh on Thursday morning — an attack that could have been worse had it not been for the quick response of the Israeli security forces and vigilant civilians.

Just before 8 a.m. in Israel, two terrorists tried to board a school bus in Ramat Beit Shemesh, but were pushed off by civilians. The two then continued toward a synagogue and pounced on a haredi man just outside the building. The man, 18, was stabbed in his upper body. Police officers dispatched to the scene shot and killed both perpetrators.

Both terrorists were 20 years old. One was a known Hamas operative who had previous run-ins with the Israeli authorities, and the other had been jailed in Israel between 2012 and 2014 after being apprehended with a knife near the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron.

The initial investigation into the event revealed that the police fielded a call early Thursday warning of a suspicious man in Ramat Beit Shemesh. Police officers were dispatched to the area and began searching for suspects. At the same time, another report came in about two suspects trying to board a bus transporting children to an area school. The two reportedly disembarked when people began yelling at them and asking them what they were doing, and they were later found near a bus stop. The police fired at them while they were stabbing their Israeli victim. According to police, the terrorists had been wearing shirts bearing symbols associated with Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades — Hamas’s armed wing.