At least 12 passengers on a Tel Aviv bus were injured, three seriously, in a terrorist stabbing rampage on Wednesday morning. The victims, whose identities have not yet been disclosed, were taken for treatment in hospitals in and around the city.
According to Tel Aviv police, a Palestinian man from the West Bank boarded a crowded bus in Tel Aviv at about 7:20 a.m. and almost immediately stabbed the driver, then began attacking passengers.
The terrorist was identified a Hamza Mohammed Hassan Matruk, a 23-year-old resident of the Samaria town of Tulkarem. He was in Tel Aviv illegally, said police.
“This is a grave terror attack,” said Tel Aviv police commander Bentzi Sau.
Eyewitnesses said the bus driver, Herzel Biton, fought his attacker after being stabbed, trying to block his way to other passengers. Biton was rushed to a local hospital in serious condition, where he underwent surgery for wounds to his chest and liver.
The assailant fled the bus on foot after the injured driver succeeded in opening the back doors to let the passengers escape.
Personnel from Israel’s prison service’s special security unit, who were escorting prisoners to a nearby court, witnessed the commotion from a vehicle behind the bus. After seeing the terrorist flee, they chased him, shooting him in the legs. He was taken to a nearby hospital for medical treatment and questioning.
Officials from the terrorist group Hamas praised the attack against innocent civilians as a “brave, heroic act.”
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