Israeli police officer severely injured by stabbing, "friendly fire" in E. Jerusalem

Israeli security forces are seen at the scene of a stabbing attack at a checkpoint in the Shuafat refugee camp in East Jerusalem, on Feb. 13, 2023. (JINI via Xinhua)

JERUSALEM, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) -- An Israeli border police officer on Monday was "critically" wounded in East Jerusalem in a suspected stabbing attack perpetrated by a 13-year-old Palestinian and then by "friendly fire," Israeli authorities said.

According to a police statement, the Palestinian teenager used a kitchen knife to stab the 20-year-old police officer inside a bus outside a checkpoint in the Shuafat refugee camp in East Jerusalem.

An Israeli security guard opened fire at the perpetrator and apparently hit the officer by accident.

Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service said in a statement that the officer was taken to a hospital and was in "a critical condition."

The Palestinian boy was "neutralized," the police said. The Hebrew-language Ha'aretz newspaper later reported that he was arrested.

The incident came hours after a 14-year-old Palestinian boy stabbed and lightly injured a 17-year-old Israeli in East Jerusalem's Old City.

The incidents took place amid a surge of violence in the region and a day after Israeli airstrikes hit the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian coastal enclave. The military said in a statement that the attack targeted an underground complex containing raw materials used for the manufacturing of rockets belonging to Hamas, an armed Palestinian group that runs Gaza. It was carried out as "a response" to earlier rocket attacks from Gaza, the army said.

Israeli security forces are seen at the scene of a stabbing attack at a checkpoint in the Shuafat refugee camp in East Jerusalem, on Feb. 13, 2023. (JINI via Xinhua)

Israeli security forces are seen at the scene of a stabbing attack at a checkpoint in the Shuafat refugee camp in East Jerusalem, on Feb. 13, 2023. (JINI via Xinhua)

Israeli security forces are seen at the scene of a stabbing attack at a checkpoint in the Shuafat refugee camp in East Jerusalem, on Feb. 13, 2023. (JINI via Xinhua)