Palestinian wounds four in Tel Aviv stabbing attack
A Palestinian stabbed and slightly wounded four people along Tel Aviv’s beachfront on Sunday and was arrested, police said, describing the attack as terrorism-related.
A wave of street attacks by Palestinians in Israel and the occupied West Bank since October 2015 has previously killed 37 Israelis, two American tourists and a British student. At least 242 Palestinians have died during the period of sporadic violence.
Israel says at least 162 of the Palestinians killed had launched stabbing, shooting or car ramming attacks. Others died during clashes and protests.
The incident in Tel Aviv occurred along its popular seaside promenade. The Magen David Adom ambulance service said four people, three in their 50s and one aged 70, were slightly wounded and taken to hospital.
Security camera footage showed the assailant accosting several people in a hotel lobby. The owner of an art gallery in the area told reporters he also entered her establishment, punching her in the ear and stabbing her before fleeing.
“It is a terror-related incident,” a police spokesman said. The suspect was identified as an 18-year-old Palestinian man from the West Bank.
Israel has accused the Palestinian leadership of inciting anti-Israeli attacks. The Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank, denies incitement and charges that in many cases, Israel has used excessive force in thwarting attackers armed with rudimentary weapons.