The scene of Wednesday’s attempted stabbing attack at the Etzion Junction, in which an Israeli reserves soldier was critically wounded by errant IDF fire. Photo: Judea-Samaria district fire and rescue services.

A 30-year-old Israeli was killed by errant fire when an IDF soldier shot at a Palestinian terrorist attempting to commit a stabbing attack at the Etzion Junction in the West Bank on Wednesday, the IDF Spokesman’s Office reported.

According to the report, the terrorist approached a group of Israelis at a hitchhiking post, pulled out a knife and tried to stab Eliav Gelman. An IDF soldier shot at and moderately wounded the terrorist, but in the process, Gelman, a captain in the reserves from the settlement of Karmei Tzur, sustained serious injuries to his upper body. He was evacuated to the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem by Magen David Adom paramedics, who told Israeli media outlets that they performed CPR on him in the ambulance. He died of his wounds shortly thereafter.

This attack, one in a string of stabbings and car-rammings at this particular junction over the past few months — and part of the larger surge in Palestinian terrorism against Israelis that began in September — came on the heels of a new command from IDF Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot that off-duty soldiers must carry their weapons.