Palestinian terrorist attack leaves four wounded in Tel Aviv

Authorities said that the suspect, an 18-year-old Palestinian from the Nablus area, committed the attack out of nationalistic motivations.

By ELIYAHU KAMISHER
Updated: APRIL 24, 2017 03:07
Terror stabbing attack in lobby of hotel in Tel Aviv on April 23, 2017 (SECURITY FOOTAGE)
A Palestinian man stabbed four people near the Tel Aviv Promenade on Sunday afternoon in what police called a terrorist attack.
Police said the assailant, an 18-year-old from the Nablus area, carried a small, unidentified weapon to the popular beachfront area.
A security camera recorded video of him as he entered the Leonardo Beach Hotel at around 2:30 p.m., then charged and attacked an employee before assaulting three others, lightly wounding two men and one woman.
Police quickly arrived along with Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) agents, arrested the suspect and began investigating the incident.
Scene of stabbing in Tel Aviv on April 23, 2017 (SASSONI)
One man in his 70s and three other victims in their 50s – two men and a woman – were evacuated with light injuries to Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center.
“We received a report on a number of injured. We arrived very quickly to the scene, within a few seconds.
We arrested a suspect adjacent to the [Leonardo Beach Hotel],” Yarkon District head Cmdr. Shlomi Sagi told press at the scene. “From an initial investigation, we are speaking of a lone attacker who arrived to the boulevard area and attacked four people.”
Sagi said it is unclear how the Palestinian entered Israel.
“We are speaking about an 18-year-old resident of the West Bank. How and why he entered is currently being investigated.”
A gag order was placed Sunday on details of the investigation and the suspect by the police.
An employee of the Leonardo Beach Hotel who was one of the wounded told Maariv, “I was standing in the lobby with my husband helping a customer, when the [attacker] entered the hotel. He was staring at me and I asked him what he wanted. That’s when he struck me in the ear with something and fled.”
Emergency medic Muhammad Arrabi said, “On the sidewalk, a man of about 70 was lying fully conscious and suffering from bruises. We gave him medical treatment on the ground and he was evacuated in a light and stable condition to the hospital.”
Daniel J. Roth contributed to this report.