Israeli authorities are continuing their search for the perpetrators who stabbed and moderately injured two elderly women in southern Jerusalem on Tuesday morning.

Police say the attackers fled towards the eastern Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabel Mukaber. Two individuals apprehended by police earlier in the day have been released after an investigation cleared them of suspicion.

The incident, described as a “suspected nationalistic attack” by a police spokesman, occurred in a wooded area called Peace Forest, near a popular promenade in the neighborhood of Armon Hanatziv. The women, aged 82 and 86, were walking in a group of five when they were assaulted by two masked men. They were found by medics lying on the ground, injured but conscious. One had wounds to her upper body, while the other had wounds to her upper body and limbs. They were both taken to the hospital and listed in moderate condition.

From September to March, 34 people were killed and 447 injured in a Palestinian wave of terror, spurred by incitement, that saw 147 stabbing attacks, 87 shootings, and 43 vehicular attacks. While the violence has mostly subsided in recent weeks, last month 21 people were injured in a suicide bus bombing carried out by Hamas in Jerusalem.

Ahmed Manasra, now 14, was convicted Tuesday on two counts of attempted murder for a stabbing attacks in October that injured two Israelis. He carried out the attack with his cousin Hassan Manasra, who was subsequently killed by police. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas later claimed that Ahmed had been “executed” by Israel, when in fact he was being treated in an Israeli hospital for injuries he received after he was hit by a car while attempting to flee the scene of the attack.

[Photo: Yonatan Sindel / Flash90 ]