Seven people were injured today (Wednesday) in a stabbing attack in Hadera, which happened in four different scenes. The attacker, a 36-year-old resident of Umm al-Fahm, was shot in the leg by a citizen who passed by and was arrested. The injured were taken to Hillel Yaffe Hospital in the city, one of them is in critical condition, one is in serious condition, four are moderate and one is minor.
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The four scenes of the attack, today
The four scenes of the attack, today
At first the police said that it was probably not an attack, but later they retracted their statement. The police said that the initial report they received was about a fight. According to the initial report, one of the participants in the fight stabbed several people he confronted, among other things while fleeing on a motorcycle. Then a report was received by the police about another stabbing scene, where two people were stabbed. According to the police, during the searches for the suspect, additional stabbing scenes were located and findings were collected that clarified that this was an attack. Finally, the terrorist was located on the motorcycle at the scene of the fourth stabbing on Herbert Samuel Street, where he was shot and arrested. An ax and a knife handle were found near the terrorist. The blade was later located in scans of the scene.
Commissioner Danny Levy came to the scene of the attack and said that the announcement published by the police claiming that the incident was not an attack “was a mistake”. It is the best organization for the country at this time.” After being asked what he had to say to the public, Levy replied: “Those who know us know that we don’t whine. But surely you don’t expect that when a terrorist comes out of the territories… it’s certainly not our intelligence cover, the Shin Bet is supposed to prevent that.” Despite his words, The police announced that the terrorist was an Israeli citizen, not a resident of the territories.
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Police officers at the scene of the attack, today Photo: Amir Levy
Police officers at the scene of the attack, today Photo: Amir Levy
The owner of a cafe in the area said that he informed the owner of the store next to him about the incident, and the two went after the terrorist. “I happened to take the weapon with me because I was going to the reserve. We saw the terrorist. He was wearing a helmet, so I shot in the air because I didn’t know if he was indeed the terrorist,” he said. According to him, the store owner, who owns a rifle, went out with him to the street and shot the terrorist in the foot. “There was no indication that he was a terrorist,” he recalls, “he didn’t shout or resist, we didn’t see an ax or a knife. He was a simple suspect.”
A man who lives on Herzl Street, one of the scenes of the attack, said that he heard the two injured people shouting “Save him”. According to him, the terrorist stabbed one of them in the neck, and the other was stabbed while he was inside a car and was protecting himself with his hands. “He was full of blood,” he said, adding that he provided them with first aid until the MDA teams arrived. Hadera’s lieutenant, his uncle Hahil, said that “the municipality’s security guard shot him, and then he came here (to the scene in Herbert Samuel, the “Q)” Habil estimated that the distance between the different arenas is between five and seven kilometers.
A few hours after the attack, Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gabir invited the citizen who shot the terrorist to the Hadera station where the latter thanked him for receiving the weapon thanks to the facilitation of distribution of firearms and licenses promoted by Ben Gabir after October 7. In a message he published earlier, Ben Gvir said that the case is proof that handing out weapons saves lives and expressed his regret that the terrorist was not killed by the shooting.
The Umm al-Fahm municipality stated that the municipality and the residents of the city “strongly condemn the attack in which innocent people were injured” and added that they “believe in and are committed to living together, and in practice maintain neighborly relations out of mutual respect and partnership with our neighbors in Hadera and the area. We send recovery wishes to the families of the victims and pray for the speedy recovery of the wounded.”
