Beduin man arrested under suspicion of aiding Palestinian terrorist in Kiryat Gat stabbings

Suspect was allegedly involved in past efforts to facilitate the illegal entry of Palestinians from the West Bank into Israel, according to security authorities.

By YAAKOV LAPPIN
Magen David Adom paramedics evacuate victims from the scene of a stabbing in Kiryat Gat, November 21, 2015 (photo credit: MAGEN DAVID ADOM)
Magen David Adom paramedics evacuate victims from the scene of a stabbing in Kiryat Gat, November 21, 2015
(photo credit: MAGEN DAVID ADOM)
Security forces arrested a resident of the Negev Beduin town of Rahat on Thursday on suspicion of enabling a Palestinian terrorist to enter Israel, before later carrying out a knife stabbing spree in Kiryat Gat that injured four Israeli civilians.
In a joint Shin Bet Israel Police Southern District operation, the suspect, who was allegedly involved in past efforts to facilitate the illegal entry of Palestinians from the West Bank into Israel, was arrested, the Shin Bet said on Friday.
Four Kiyat Gat were wounded in the attack in the southern city last Saturday evening before the assailant fled the scene. Police captured the man hiding in the yard of a building after an hours-long manhunt.
The youngest victim was described by Magen David Adom as a 13-year-old girl who was stabbed in the upper body. The paramedic service said that in addition to the teenage girl, two women aged 56 and 44 were moderately wounded, as was a 51-year-old man. Dr. Eli Ben-Valid, the head of the emergency room at Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon said all four suffered upper body stab wounds.
Ben Hartman and Jerusalem Post staff contributed to this report.