BICOM

An 18-year-old Palestinian from the West Bank injured four people yesterday afternoon at the promenade near Atarim Square in Tel Aviv.

The attacker entered Israel on a day permit obtained via an organisation called “Natural Peace Tours,” an Israeli group that brings Palestinians to Israel for special visits to promote peace and co-existence between Israelis and Palestinians.

At 14:30, the Palestinian teenager went to the Tel Aviv promenade after leaving one of the hotels in the area with a small work tool.  He lunged at a passer by and assaulted him, causing light injuries. The attacker then continued to the Leonardo Hotel where he attacked three more people before being arrested.

The four victims, a 70 year-old man and two men and one woman in their 50’s, were taken to Ichilov Hospital with moderate injuries.

One man challenged the attacker after his wife was attacked. Claudio, whose wife Jacqueline sustained an injury to her ear, chased the attacker: “It was clear to me that I [had to] stop him before he hurt any more innocent people. I grabbed him, and 20 seconds later a policeman arrived with his gun drawn and took over. I didn’t think of letting him get away for a moment. If the terrorist had been there alone with my wife and the customer, he could have easily finished them off.”

Following the terror attack, Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai ordered a freeze on permits given to various organizations to travel to Israel pending the end of the investigation.

A stabbing attack occurred this morning at the Kalandiya checkpoint near Jerusalem. A 25 year-old female soldier sustained light injuries to the shoulder. A Palestinian woman named as Asya Kabaneh, 41, from Duma in the Nablus area was arrested at the scene.