One woman dead and over 15 wounded in an attack carried by a Palestinian man in central Israel
Two Palestinian men were arrested by the police for their involvement in a violent attack that claimed the life of a woman and injured more than 15 others in central Israel. The police said that the attack was carried out using at least three stolen vehicles that were used to run over pedestrians.
The incident occurred on Monday morning, when a 44-year-old man from Hebron stabbed a driver and stole his car, according to the police. He then drove to Hacharoshet Street in Raanana, a city north of Tel Aviv, and plowed into a group of people waiting at a bus stop. He continued his rampage by getting into another car and hitting more people on the same street, as reported by the Israeli Channel 12.
The police arrived at the scene and arrested the suspect, who was injured by gunfire from a civilian. They also recovered the stolen vehicles and found that they had been taken from their owners before the attack. “A suspect in a stolen vehicle ran over several people,” the police said in a preliminary statement.
The victims of the attack were rushed to the nearby Meir hospital, where a woman in her 70s succumbed to her injuries. “The woman who arrived in critical condition after being run over died from her injuries despite our resuscitation efforts,” the hospital said in a statement. The hospital also said that among the wounded were two children, aged 9 and 12, and a pregnant woman.
The police later announced that they had arrested another Palestinian man, who was related to the attacker, on suspicion of aiding and abetting the attack. The police did not disclose the motive of the attack, but said that they were investigating all possible angles, including terrorism.
The attack came amid a surge of violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories, following the Hamas offensive in Israel on October 7, 2023. The Islamist group, which controls the Gaza Strip, launched an attack in Israel that killed about 1,140 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP report based on Israeli data.
Israel responded with a fierce air and ground campaign against Hamas in Gaza. The Hamas Ministry of Health said that the Israeli strikes killed more than 24,000 people in Gaza, mostly women and children.
