A pair of terrorists from the West Bank went on violent spree in central Israel today. The two men used both stolen cars and knives to attack people at random in the city of Raanana. The attack took place just as schools were letting out and unfortunately several of the injured were children.
Israeli police said two suspects stole vehicles and ran over a number of people in the city north of Tel Aviv, in what it called a “suspected hit-and-run terror attack.”
The suspects, who were from the city of Hebron in the occupied West Bank and were related to each other, have been detained, police said.
A hospital outside Tel Aviv said it was treating seven children injured in the attacks.
A 16-year-old boy who suffered a serious head injury was in surgery, and six other children aged between 10 and 16 were in “mild to moderate” condition, according to Dr. Ron Barnett, director of the department of emergency medicine at the Schneider Center for Pediatrics.
The Times of Israel has more details on how the attack unfolded.
According to reports, one of the terrorists attacked a woman driving a black jeep on the city’s Haharoshet Street, pulled her out of the car, and rammed it into three people.
The terrorist then got stuck and abandoned the car, before stealing a second vehicle and continuing down the street, ramming into more people…
“We heard the noise of a crash, like a car bumping into another car,” Eden Arzi said. “We saw the driver go to stab a woman and she ran away, and [the driver] went and stabbed a 60-year-old man while there were a bunch of screams in the background, until he fell on the ground.”…
The second terrorist, meanwhile, stabbed a woman driving a white car on the city’s central Ahuza Street, lightly injuring her, commandeered the car and rammed into numerous other people, before crashing into an electricity pole near a bus stop and fleeing on foot. The woman who later died of her injuries was hit in this incident, reports said, as were several children and teenagers.
The two suspects were identified as Ahmed Zidat and Mahmoud Zidad. They were both captured alive and arrested. This video is circulating showing what is believed to be one of the two terrorists just before he was arrested.
Terrorist that carried out the terror attack in Israel earlier today dancing his final dance before being arrested. pic.twitter.com/Sc7LlHC5Ry
— REAL JEW (@THEREALJEW613) January 15, 2024
The two men are cousins and had crossed into Israel illegally and were working at a car wash in the city in preparation for this attack. They originally planned a knife attack but then decided they could do more damage using cars as well. This is the elderly woman who they murdered today.
Terrorists murdered 79-year-old Edna Bluestein in Raanana today. They stabbed her to death.
Her crime: being a Jew pic.twitter.com/Fv6t9PuQ3k
— Eli Kowaz (@elikowaz) January 15, 2024
Finally, here’s a Sky News report on the attack.