The man who stabbed and lightly wounded an Israeli soldier Sunday morning in the southern coastal city of Ashkelon has been identified as a Sudanese national.
The attacker was shot and seriously injured after fleeing the scene of the stabbing; he later died of his wounds at the hospital.
Police initially believed the stabbing near the city's central bus station was part of an ongoing wave of Arab terror attacks across Israel. Now, however, the motive for the stabbing is unclear.
The Sudanese national, said to be in his 20s, arrived at Ben Gurion Boulevard in Ashkelon shortly before 8:30 a.m., when he stabbed the IDF soldier and then fled.
A second soldier who witnessed the attack grabbed the wounded soldier's weapon and chased after the assailant to a nearby street, where he shot and neutralized him.
One eyewitness said the soldier shot at the attacker three times but he continued to run, prompting the soldier to fire three more times.
The 20-year-old victim, meanwhile, was evacuated to the city's Barzilai Hospital in light condition suffering stab wounds to the upper body.