Twelve Israelis were stabbed on a Tel Aviv bus Wednesday by a Palestinian man who was then chased, shot and arrested in what cops called a terror attack.
The alleged assailant was identified as Hamza Mohammed Hasan Matrouk, 23, who entered Israel illegally from Tulkarem in the West Bank, Haaretz reported.
Israel Prison Service commander Benny Botarshvili was with three of his officers on their way to court when they heard screams coming from the 40 bus line. They chased the attacker and shot him in the leg.DemotixThe man, who had been riding on the bus, began stabbing the driver and the passengers before fleeing. An Israel Prison Service officer shot him in the leg nearby and he was taken to a hospital.
Israeli police officers carry Matrouk on a stretcher after he was shot while fleeing the scene of the crime.ReutersThree people were in critical condition, hospital officials said. Three others suffered serious injuries and five had minor injuries, according to Israeli emergency services officials. Another five suffered from shock, Haaretz reported.
The Islamic militant Hamas group praised the attack, though Palestinian sources said Matrouk does not belong to any organization.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld described the incident on Twitter as a “terror attack.”
The attack, which took place on a major thoroughfare in Tel Aviv, was the latest in a spate of recent “lone wolf” incidents in which Palestinians have used knives, acid and vehicles as weapons.
“He had murder in his eyes,” a bus passenger who gave her name as Orly told Israel Radio.
Police said Matrouk confessed to the attack, saying he carried it out as a response to the war in Gaza last year and recent tensions in connection with a Jerusalem site holy to both Jews and Muslims.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attack was a “direct result of the Palestinian Authority’s venomous incitement against the Jews and their state. The same terror tries to hurt us in Paris, Brussels and everywhere,” Haaretz reported.
Netanyahu, a security hawk, is facing a challenge in March elections from a joint list headed by Isaac Herzog and Tzipi Livni, who support negotiations with the Palestinians.
Hamas official Izzat al-Risheq described the attack as a “heroic act.”
“The attack carried out this morning is a bold, heroic act and a natural response to the crimes of the occupation and terrorism against the Palestinian people,” he said.
At the scene of the attack, a Jewish head covering lay on the blood-splattered floor of the bus.
Bus driver Herzl Biton, who was stabbed in the upper body and liver, had tried to fight back and sprayed the attacker with pepper spray, said his niece, Cheli Shushan.
Biton called his friend, Kazis Matzliach, during the assault. Matzliach said he could hear screaming while his friend was talking, telling him if “something happens to me, please take care of my children.”
