Palestinian terrorists have mowed down and stabbed a dozen civilians in Israel, killing an elderly woman and injuring another 17 people.
The two attackers carried out coordinated car-rammings in central Israel on Monday, as tensions soared over the more than three-month-old war in the Gaza Strip.
Police described the attack in Raanana, north of Tel Aviv, as a terrorist attack and said two suspects were under arrest.
The pair are from Hebron, a city in the occupied West Bank, and entered Israel illegally, despite being blacklisted for repeated illegal entry, police said.
Palestinian terrorists have mowed down a dozen civilians in Israel, killing an elderly woman and injuring another 17 people
Israeli police investigate the site of the hit-and run attack in Ra’anana, north of Tel Aviv
Mahmoud Zidat, 44, an illegal worker from the Palestinian town of Bani Na’im in the West Bank, was accused of using three different cars to ram civilians.
His nephew, 25-year-old Ahmed Zidat from Bani Na’im, who police alleged was in the car with his uncle during the attack, fled the scene and was later arrested.
‘They went out together and in parallel, to two different locations, took two cars and launched a series of rammings,’ central district police chief Avi Biton said.
‘This was a very grave terror attack.’
Police alleged one of the pair stabbed a woman and stole her car, ramming it into pedestrians before losing control and crashing it.
They then allegedly stole another car and continued driving it in to random people on the street.
Another victim, a 66-year-old man, was also seriously stabbed in the chaos.
Israeli security forces work at the site of a Palestinian car-ramming and stabbing attack at a bus stop, in Ra’anana, Israel
Israeli police investigate the site of the attack on Monday
Israeli security forces search for assailants near the scene of a deadly car-ramming and stabbing attack at a bus stop, in Ra’anana, Israel, Monday
Mahmoud was working at a car wash in Raanana and Ahmed arrived more recently to live with him and look for a job.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility by any group.
Israeli TV showed scattered personal items on a pavement and said several children were among the injured.
Three people were in a serious condition including a 34-year-old man and a 16-year-old boy, and 14 others less badly hurt including six children.
Witnesses initially thought the attack was a car crash after the vehicle slammed into another, and ran over with water to help those in the car.
Magen David Adom, Israel’s national ambulance service, said paramedics encountered numerous victims when they arrived.
‘Immediately we began administering medical care, including stopping bleeding, treating, and giving medication. We evacuated those injured for further treatment in the hospitals,’ paramedic Eli Raymond said.
Israeli security forces search for assailants near the scene of a deadly car-ramming and stabbing attack at a bus stop, in Ra’anana, Israel
Israeli troops raided the West Bank Palestinian city of Dura, near Hebron where the terror suspects were from, soon after the attack.
It was not clear whether the raid was directly related to the terror attack.
One Palestinian man, Hassan Ibrahim Abu Sebaa, was killed and 10 others wounded when Israeli Defence Force troops opened fire.
The IDF said about 100 locals began to riot when the soldiers entered the area and attacked them with cinderblocks and Molotov cocktails.
Videos from the scene claim to show IDF soldiers kicking a man who was lying on the ground after supposedly being shot, and a man being frogmarched away by soldiers holding a gun to his head.