Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency service said they pronounced dead a man aged around 70 [GETTY]
A stabbing attack at a transport station in the Israeli city of Haifa left one person dead and several wounded on Monday, medics said, in what police called a “terror attack” whose perpetrator was killed.
Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency service said they pronounced dead a man aged around 70.
“A terrorist exited a bus, stabbed multiple civilians, and was subsequently neutralised by a security guard and a civilian at the scene,” the police said in a statement.
It said the perpetrator was a member of Israel’s Druze minority from the northern Israeli town of Shfaram who had returned to Israel last week after several months abroad.
Attacks by members of the Arabic-speaking Druze community are rare, as they are generally considered to have a strong allegiance to the Israeli state.
“The terrorist, an Israeli Druze resident of Shfaram, had spent recent months abroad and returned to Israel last week”, the police said in a statement.
It was the first fatal attack in Israel since a ceasefire took effect in the Gaza Strip on 19 January between Israel and Hamas.
The attack came as negotiations between the two sides stalled after Israel agreed to a US-backed proposal to have the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire ended at the weekend.
Medical teams “have pronounced the death of a man around 70 years old and are providing medical treatment to and evacuating four injured individuals”, Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency service said.
It said a man and woman around 30 years of age, as well as a 15-year-old boy, were seriously injured.
Israeli police label as “terror” attacks those connected to the war on Gaza.
Police had originally reported the attack as a shooting.
AFP journalists who arrived after the wounded were evacuated saw the attacker’s body on the ground under a blanket.
The attack took place at a bus and train station in Haifa, a large coastal city in northern Israel home to a mixed Jewish and Palestinian population.
Israel blocked the entry of humanitarian aid to Gaza on Sunday after a disagreement with Hamas over extending the ceasefire.
Hamas hailed the attack as a “heroic operation” and called it a response to Israeli “crimes” against Palestinians.
