Palestinian who stabbed Israeli arrested, terror now suspected

Security forces track down suspect who stabbed, seriously wounded man in Rosh Ha’ayin.

By Paul Shindman, World Israel News

A Palestinian suspected of stabbing and seriously wounding an Israeli man 10 days ago was arrested along with several accomplices, the Shabak General Security Service (GSS) announced Tuesday.

On August 15 a resident of Ashkelon was stabbed and seriously injured at a construction site in Rosh Ha’ayin, allegedly by a Palestinian who was staying illegally in Israel.

Although the ambulance crew that responded to the scene initially reported the man had been injured in a street fight, the GSS, in cooperation with the police and the IDF, began intensive intelligence and operational activities to locate the stabber on suspicion that it was a terrorist attack.

The GSS said that with the help of intelligence reports, the suspect was arrested on August 20 in Jenin and was taken in for questioning.

Police said that in addition to the suspected stabber, three others were arrested on suspicion of aiding the attacker.

The identities of the suspects and other details of the investigation are restricted under a court gag order.

The unidentified Israeli man in his 30s was visiting his new apartment in a building that is under construction in the city of Rosh Ha’ayin, 13 kilometers (8 miles) east of Tel Aviv. He encountered a Palestinian on one of the first floors of the building where his apartment is located and was stabbed numerous times.

The Palestinian attacker fled and the man managed to stumble outside before collapsing at the entrance to the building. He lay there bleeding until a passerby noticed him some time later and called for an ambulance and the police.

Magen David Adom ambulance officials initially thought the man had been stabbed in a brawl and reported that they gave him life-saving treatment, “which included stopping bleeding, bandages and giving fluids, and we evacuated him urgently to the hospital when his condition was serious and unstable.”

Palestinian violenceRosh Ha'ayinShabakShin BetStabbingTerrorism