Hamas attack injures 8 in Tel Aviv in response to Israel's killing of 10 in West Bank
The driver of Palestinian origin ran over pedestrians in a street in the center of the city, the corridor was classified as an act of terrorism. That incident came a day after Israel carried out its biggest operation in the West Bank in two decades, which claimed 10 lives.
Israeli security agents cordon off an area of Tel Aviv after a car plows ahead, injuring pedestrians - Photo Reproduction/Getty Images
Nine people were injured in one attack involving a car and stabbing occurred in Tel Aviv, according to information provided by the city's police. Three of those victims are in serious condition. The incident happened this Tuesday (04). It is important to note that this attack took place the day after the start of a military operation on a large scale by Israel in the West Bank city of Jenin.
According to a police spokesman, the individual responsible for the attack was a Palestinian citizen residing in the West Bank. He was shot and killed at the scene by a pedestrian. The incident came after Israel's police chief warned of the possibility of new violent episodes during the continuation of the military operation in the West Bank. Hamas later declared that the 20-year-old was a member of the militant Islamist group and was retaliating for the Israeli attack on Jenin.
Attack
The deliberate aggressor directed a pickup truck towards the pedestrian in close proximity to a bus stop on busy Pinchas Rosen Street, located in a coastal town. He then abandoned the vehicle and stabbed a knife in the neck of one of the victims. In the images captured by the video surveillance system (CCTV) during the attack, it is possible to observe a figure dressed in dark clothes running from the place where the car was stopped.
This person crosses a cycle path and passes between the tables of a sidewalk cafe, where he tries to stab a man who has been chasing him. When trying to flee, the aggressor is intercepted by a motorcyclist, who fires a shot at him.
Photo Reproduction/Getty Images
A second video was shared online that records the moment shortly after the scene, in which a motorcyclist, in gray shorts, T-shirt and white helmet, kicks a knife from the hand of the injured attacker on the ground before approaching and shooting him again. A paramedic from the Magen David Adom EMS reported arriving on the scene and witnessing several casualties being tended to on the sidewalk.
“We arrived at the scene with a large force of intensive care vehicles and MDA ambulances. We saw that it was very serious and near a bus stop there were five people injured, including a 46-year-old woman… lying on the pavement while she was conscious and suffering from severe trauma.”
The injured were transported to hospitals in Tel Aviv, Petah Tikva and Kfar Saba, where three of them are in serious condition.
Investigations
A Shin Bet domestic security agency identified the assailant as Abed al-Wahab Khalila, 20, from the town of As-Samu, located in the southern West Bank, near Hebron. Initially, there was a report indicating another individual. Israeli Police Commissioner Yaakov Shabtai, who was at the scene of the incident, suggested the risk of possible additional attacks during an Israeli military incursion into Jenin, which has already resulted in the deaths of 10 Palestinians.
"Circumstances are being investigated as to his background and motivation, and I would like to commend the activity of the citizen with great courage, who managed to thwart the attack and prevent the continuation of that terrorist killing," said Shabtai.
Military operation
During a search for Palestinian militants and weapons in the West Bank, Israeli troops came under attack. Military bulldozers plowed through the alleys as thousands of residents sought refuge to ensure their safety. The investigation into the Jenin refugee camp, launched on Monday, represents one of the most intense military operations to take place in the occupied West Bank in nearly two decades.
