Tourist Wounds Four in Terror Stabbing Spree

Wednesday, 22 January 2025 | Four people were wounded in Tel Aviv on Tuesday night in a terrorist attack perpetrated by a foreign national, according to the Israel Police.

Local media reported that the attacker, a 29-year-old man identified via an ID card found on his person, was a US permanent resident originally from Morocco. He was shot and killed at the scene by Israeli security personnel in the area, according to police.

Two of the victims were moderately and two lightly wounded, according to Israeli officials. Three of the victims, all of whom are male, are in their 20s, and one is 59.

One of the victims was admitted in moderate-to-serious condition and rushed to an operating room to be treated for a stab wound to the neck, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center’s Ichilov Hospital said late Tuesday night.

The assailant had entered Israel as a tourist just days earlier, and reportedly arrived in central Tel Aviv on a motorcycle together with a second suspect who fled the scene.

The US State Department told Israel’s Ynet outlet that it was “aware of the reports” that a US resident was involved, and conveyed “its deepest condolences to the victims and the families of all those injured.”

Israeli Interior Minister Moshe Arbel said that border protection officers from the Population and Immigration Authority had initially denied the terrorist entry to the country, but were overruled by security officials.

The Israel Security Agency [Shin Bet] announced in a statement that it was probing the incident, noting that the terrorist “underwent a security assessment that included interrogations as well as additional checks, at the end of which it was decided that there was no data that would establish grounds to prevent his entry into Israel for security reasons.”

The attack, which unfolded across multiple locations, including Tel Aviv’s Nahalat Binyamin and Gruzenberg streets, sparked chaos as residents reported hearing gunfire, according to reports in Hebrew media.

Eyewitnesses described the terrifying incident. Michal, who was at a restaurant on Nahalat Binyamin, told Channel 12 News: “We heard gunfire, people dropped to the ground, and glass shattered everywhere. The lively evening turned into chaos in an instant.”

Arnat, another witness, recounted: “We heard bursts of gunfire, saw people running, and hid in the restroom. After another round of shots, we ran to a nearby shelter as sirens filled the streets.”

The Israel Police announced it was continuing its “wide deployment” in central Tel Aviv “to increase the security of residents in the area.”

On Saturday afternoon, a Palestinian terrorist stabbed a man at the intersection of Levontin and Mikveh Yisrael streets in Tel Aviv.

The 27-year-old victim was evacuated to Ichilov Hospital with a wound to the head area. His condition was described as moderate to serious.

A passerby shot and killed the attacker, identified as Salah Yahya, 19, from Tulkarem in Samaria, who was within the Green Line [the cease-fire line established in 1949 separating Israel from the Jordanian-held area] illegally.