Israeli woman killed, 2 others wounded in Gush Etzion terror attack

Dahlia Lemkus, a 26-year-old resident of Tekoa, was waiting for a ride home when she was murdered in a terrorist attack in Gush Etzion on Monday. The attacker, a terrorist from Hebron, ran her over with his car and then stabbed her to death.

Another Israeli, also 26, was seriously wounded in the attack. A 50-year-old man sustained minor injuries as well. Lemkus, who was killed in the attack, had miraculously survived a similar stabbing attack in 2006.

The stabbing attack took place several hours after an Israeli soldier was stabbed by a terrorist in Tel Aviv. The soldier, 20-year-old Almog Shiloni, died in hospital later Monday.

The Gush Etzion attack on Monday happened not too far from where three Israeli teens were kidnapped by Hamas terrorists and subsequently killed in June. Maher Hamdi a-Shalmoun, 30, who has been jailed in Israel for security violations in the past, was driving on Route 367 toward Gush Etzion in the late afternoon. A young man and a young woman were waiting for a ride at the entrance to Alon Shvut. The terrorist accelerated as he approached them and hit them with his car, only to ram his car into a nearby concrete block. Once the vehicle stopped, the attacker exited and returned to stab his two victims.

He then crossed the street and pounced on a 50-year-old driver who had stopped to see what was happening. After struggling with the driver, and stabbing him as well, the terrorist returned to the initial site and stabbed the woman, Lemkus, again, obliterating any chance of her survival.

Once he made sure his victim was dead, the terrorist tried to flee. But the security guard manning the entrance to Alon Shvut began pursuing him and ultimately shot him. The attacker was seriously hurt.

Police, military and medical personnel arrived at the scene shortly after the attack. Magen David Adom paramedic Hanan Meir recounted that "on the road, next to the bus station, there was a woman lying unconscious with several stab wounds to her upper body. We administered first aid and transferred her to the ambulance, where we tried to resuscitate her, but she was declared dead several minutes later.

Another medic said that "a 26-year-old man was lying near the woman. He was fully conscious, with stab wounds in his abdomen. We administered first aid and transported them to the hospital."

'The terrorist chased me'

Yishai Katz, a 50-year-old resident of Alon Shvut, was lightly hurt in the attack. He recalled that he saw the terrorist stab the victim twice. "It was after the ramming of the car, which I did not witness. I yelled at him and tried to go near him. He then started running and chasing me, yelling 'Allahu akbar' several times. I decided to run in order to get him away from the scene. At some point I realized that he was gaining on me and I struggled with him. I was stabbed in the cheek and scratched in the hip. Then another person came and sprayed him with gas. I returned to the scene and saw that I was getting covered in blood. At that point I saw the terrorist run from the security guard and they both jumped behind the station."

"The guard managed to grab the hand that was holding the knife, and then another guard came and I directed him to where the confrontation was. The second guard shot the terrorist and neutralized him," Katz recounted.

"I was very lucky. It was a fight for my life. The terrorist looked like he was running amok -- his aim was to hurt as many people as possible," Katz said.

Victim stabbed by terrorist eight years ago

Only a few meters separate the spot where Dahlia Lemkus was murdered on Monday and the spot where she was stabbed by a terrorist eight years ago. Then, like now, she was waiting for a ride when a terrorist attacked her with a knife.

Lemkus' parents, Brenda and Nahum, brought the family to Israel from South Africa 20 years ago, and settled in Tekoa five years later. Dahlia was the eldest of five siblings. She was an occupational therapist and worked with children in Kiryat Gat. She also volunteered at the Yad Sarah chapter in Tekoa, which caters to the elderly and the disabled. She was on her way there when she was murdered on Monday.

Hundreds of people attended Lemkus' funeral on Tuesday, held in Tekoa, including Knesset speaker Yuli Edelstein and GOC Central Command Maj. Gen. Nitzan Alon alongside friends and family.

In his eulogy, her father said "Dahlia, dear, you are going to heaven to join our sacred mothers. Advocate for integrity together with them, for your family, for the redemption of the land of Israel and for the rebuilding of the Temple."

Talking about the terrorist who murdered his daughter, he said "He didn't know that he would fail to weaken us. Dahlia, in being buried here, in the Judean hills you are strengthening our hold. You had the privilege of dying for the sanctification of the land."

Shalmoun, associated with Islamic Jihad, was jailed in Israel between 2000 and 2005 for firebombing. His cousin, Moussa Abu Shalmoun, was released from prison in exchange for Gilad Schalit, who was held captive by Hamas.

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