Palestinian stabs 12 bus passengers in Tel Aviv, gets shot

PanARMENIAN.Net - A knife-wielding Palestinian attacked passengers on a morning rush-hour bus in Tel Aviv Wednesday, Jan 21 wounding 12 people, before being shot by a passing prison officer in the latest lone-wolf attack, Agence France-Presse reported.

It was the first attack in Tel Aviv since a fatal November stabbing of a soldier by a Palestinian, and roundly condemned by Britain, France and the United States.

The attacker struck in the heart of Israel's commercial capital, police spokeswoman Luba Samri said, describing him as a "terrorist."

Twelve people were wounded, including three in serious condition, four in moderate condition and five who sustained light injuries, hospital sources said.

Another seven people were treated for shock.

"The terrorist stabbed the bus driver several times but the driver fought back until he fled on foot and was neutralised by a guard from the prisons' service," a police statement said.

He was shot in the leg then taken to hospital.

Witnesses told army radio the driver apparently used pepper spray or tear gas to try to stop the attack.

Brief footage from the scene broadcast on television showed people fleeing a man who rams a knife into the back of a woman, then runs on when she collapses.

Police identified the attacker as 23-year-old Hamza Matruk from Tulkarem refugee camp in the northern West Bank, who was staying in Israel illegally.

During his interrogation, Matruk gave several reasons for carrying out the attack: Israel's war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip last summer, the wave of unrest in and around Jerusalem's flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound as well as Islamist material he had seen, police said.

Matruk told investigators he perpetrated the attack in order to "reach heaven," according to police.