An Israeli police officer was stabbed in the back on Monday near the West Bank settlement of Adam, north of Jerusalem.

The 30-year-old man was moderately injured and taken to a Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Hospital for treatment with the knife still in his back. According to Channel 2, the officer and his partner were directing traffic at a busy intersection where an accident had taken place.

The attacker fled the scene and police officers were searching the area for the culprit, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld wrote on Twitter.

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Security officer stabbed in back by terrorist who fled the scene. Police and border police units searching the area for the attacker. — Micky Rosenfeld (@MickyRosenfeld) December 23, 2013

Another police spokesman said that Israeli forces opened fire at the suspect before he got away. According to the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, the attacker was Palestinian.

The police officer was stabbed by a Palestinian — IDF (@IDFSpokesperson) December 23, 2013

Kobi Cohen, police district commander, said a few hours after the incident that the Palestinian suspect evaded capture and escaped to the adjacent Palestinian village of Jaba.



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Magen David Adom paramedic Hezi Tzuri told Ynet that when he arrived at the scene of the incident, the victim was conscious but had suffered stab wounds to his upper torso.

“We gave him first aid in the field and evacuated him during treatment,” he said.

Monday’s incident came a day after a bomb exploded in a Bat Yam bus, moments after the driver evacuated the passengers. No one was injured in the incident.