A knife attack depiction.

A 32 year old Israeli man was murdered in a stabbing attack at the Tapuach Junction in Samaria this morning, according to Israeli media reports. After stabbing his victim, the Palestinian Arab perpetrator took the wounded man’s handgun and began to fire at a nearby crowd of people waiting for rides, but was shot by Border Police who were on site. The terrorist was moderately wounded and apprehended by the police.

According to reports, the victim was pronounced dead as paramedics arrived on the scene.

The victim was a resident of Yitzhar in Samaria and was a father of five.

Eyewitness Rabbi Chaim Goldberg who was driving to work in nearby Kdumim where he serves as head of a Yeshivah High School, told Tazpit News Agency what he saw at the scene of the attack.

As he approached the Tapuach Junction there was  mayhem: “I saw three young women jump into the street. I then heard shots fired. I noticed a person who was lying on the ground get up with a gun in his hand. I slowed down and ducked so he wouldn’t see me. I then called the emergency center to notify them about the incident. I now understand that the terrorist nabbed the gun from the Jew he murdered and I was the first target he saw.” Several bullets hit Goldberg’s vehicle.

The IDF checkpoint at the Tapuach Junction was removed a few months ago under orders from former Minister of Defense Ehud Barak.

Following the attack, Yitzhar’s spokesman stated that the cause of the attack was the abandonment of security and the weak-handedness towards Arab terror displayed by high ranking Israeli officials.

Coalition Chairman MK Yariv Levin declared that this morning’s attack was the Arab response to reports of progress made on the Arab League peace initiative by John Kerry. “I call on the IDF to reinstate the checkpoints which were removed and to shut down the Tapuach Junction to all Palestinian traffic,” he said.

The most recent prior attack at the Tapuach Junction, an area of much tension,  in Samaria, occurred in mid January this year when a 20 year-old resident of Ramallah attacked a 17 year-old Israeli youth. The terrorist was detained following the assault, and the young victim was taken for medical treatment.