By Chris Muhizi for MCN.
A day after Israel began an extensive military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, at least nine persons, three of whom were critically hurt, were hurt in a car ramming and stabbing attack in Tel Aviv.
A police spokeswoman said that the attacker was a Palestinian who lived in the occupied West Bank and was shot and killed there by a bystander. The attack happened as Israel’s top police official issued a warning about the possibility of other incidents as the military operation in the West Bank went on.
Later, Hamas asserted that the 20-year-old was a member of the militant Islamist organization and that he had attacked Jenin in retaliation for the Israeli attack.
On the bustling Pinchas Rosen Street in the coastal city, the attacker rammed his pickup truck into people near a bus stop before getting out and stabbing one of the victims in the neck.
In the attack’s CCTV footage, a man in black clothing can be seen sprinting from the spot where the automobile had stopped, jumping a bike lane, and running through the cafe’s seating as he tries to knife a man who is tackling him. He is seen running away, but a biker spots him and shoots him.
A few seconds later, the action is captured in a second video that was uploaded online. The motorcyclist, who is wearing white helmet and grey shorts, kicks away a knife from the attacker’s hand as he lies injured on the ground before approaching and shooting him again.
In later statements quoted in Israeli media, the unnamed individual explained what transpired.
“He climbed out and stabbed someone after crashing into the stop. I pondered whether it was an extreme case of road rage, but he soon moved on and began pursuing other people. I approached him after pulling my revolver.
I convinced myself that because of his height and menacing nature, he could kill at least 10 people. He dropped when I fired two more shots at him. The events unfolded rapidly.
When they arrived, the paramedics from the Magen David Adom emergency service saw several of the injured being treated on the sidewalk.
The terrorist organization Hamas hailed the assault as “heroic and retaliation for the military operation in Jenin.”
After some sources mentioned a different person, the domestic security service Shin Bet identified the attacker as Abed al-Wahab Khalila, 20, from the southern West Bank settlement of As-Samu, close to Hebron.
In light of Israel’s military intervention into Jenin, which has already resulted in the deaths of 10 Palestinians, Yaakov Shabtai, the commissioner of Israel’s police, warned of the possibility of additional attacks when visiting the scene of the incident.
According to Shabtai, the assailant was traveling against the flow of traffic at a high rate of speed when he plowed into a bus stop, sending passengers flying into the air.
He made the following statement regarding the investigation: “Circumstances are being examined regarding his background and motive, and I would like to praise the activity of the citizen with a lot of courage, that he was able to thwart the attack and prevent the continuation of that terrorist’s killing spree.”
The incident occurred as Israeli forces continued their search for Palestinian militants and weapons in the West Bank, following the destruction of alleyways by military bulldozers and the evacuation of thousands of people. One of the heaviest military operations in the occupied West Bank in almost two decades is the Monday-starting raid on the Jenin refugee camp.
A severe response to recent attacks on Israeli settlers, including a shooting that left four Israelis dead last month, is under increasing political pressure. Operation Home and Garden has been compared to Israeli military strategies used throughout that conflict.
Following the incidents on Monday, 133 Palestinians have died in the West Bank this year. unexpected five-day Israeli incursion in the blockaded Gaza Strip claimed the lives of an additional 34 Palestinians and one Israeli in addition to the 24 Israelis who had already been murdered.
The 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation denounced the incursion, along with the Palestinians, Jordan, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates, three Arab nations having normalized relations with Israel.