12 Injured in Tel Aviv Stabbing Attack

The terrorist, a 23 year old male from the city of Tulkarem in Judea and Samaria, stabbed several passengers on a bus in central Tel Aviv. According to reports, twelve people were injured in the attack, three of them severely.

The suspect was later detained, and casualties were minimized due to the combined efforts of the bus driver, a young Israeli boy riding the bus to school, and members of the Israeli Prison Services in the area.

EVENTS ON THE GROUND

The terrorist began his attack, and stabbed the bus driver, who simultaneously attempted to defend himself and stop the moving bus. Meanwhile, a young boy on his way to school managed to break a window to allow passengers to escape. He then succesfully slowed the terrorist’s attack by throwing his school bag at him as the terrorist headed in his direction, allowing the boy to escape.

The suspect then exited the bus and continued his rampage, indiscriminantly stabbing people on the street. He was quickly stopped and detained by Israeli Prison Services, who were heading to a court in the area. A security force officer appropriately exhibited his readiness in such a situation; he chased the terrorist, yelled for him to halt, and as he didn’t comply, shot warning shots in the air. As the Palestinian man continued to flee, the security officer succesfully stopped him with a non-fatal gun shot to his leg.

(Photo credit: Yaron Brener)

Hamas, which condemns terrorism when it’s directed toward the international community, but can’t hide its joy when terror hits Israeli civilians, was quick to congratulate the attack. Izzat al-Risheq a senior Hamas leader, said, “the stabbing attack against Zionists in Tel Aviv is a brave and heroic act.”

https://twitter.com/izzat_risheq/status/557783952136867840

In recent months, acts of terror throughout the country are on the rise. On January 4, three suspects were arrested for for their association with ISIS in a joint IDF and ISA operation. The three perpetrators, residents of Hebron, confessed to planning several terror attacks. In addition, the suspects confessed to activating an explosive device against Israeli soldiers.

A few days earlier, on December 25, two Palestinians hurled a Molotov cocktail at a passing Israeli vehicle, setting it on fire which caused severe burns to an 11 year-old Israeli girl and lightly injured her father.

On December 12, a vehicle carrying a family with four girls stopped to pick up an Israeli hitchhiker at the Al-Hader Junction, north of Gush Etzion (Tunnel Checkpoint). Upon identifying the vehicle, a Palestinian man adjacent to the hitchhiker attacked both the passengers and the hitchhiker with acid, wounding them lightly to moderately.

In October-November 2014, five suspects were arrested in a joint IDF and ISA operation for planning to execute a suicide bombing in the Tel-Aviv area, as well as several other terror attacks against Israeli civilians.