The aftermath of the stabbing attack in Netanya on Monday evening. Photo: Israel Police.

A 71-year-old man was critically wounded in a stabbing attack in Netanya early Monday evening, according to Hebrew press reports.

The victim, who suffered multiple stab wounds to his upper body, was evacuated to a nearby hospital after being treated on the scene by Magen David Adom paramedics. The man’s wife, who was crossing the street with him at the time of the stabbing, is being treated for shock.

The terrorist, identified as a Palestinian from the West Bank city of Tul Karm, tried to flee, but police shot him four times in the legs. Police sources told Israel’s Channel 2 that officers had to keep angry citizens at bay, to prevent them from lynching the neutralized terrorist.

This comes on the heels of an earlier stabbing attack in Rishon LeZion, which left three Israelis wounded, two of them critically. The terrorist, a 19-year-old from Hebron was arrested.

It is the latest in a series of stabbing and other attacks that are part of a surge in Palestinian terrorism that began in mid-September.