(JNS) A Palestinian terrorist drove his car into pedestrians at a bus stop on Pinchas Rosen Street in Tel Aviv’s northeastern Ramat Hahayal neighborhood on Tuesday, July 4. He then got out of the vehicle and stabbed additional victims with a sharp object, police said. There were seven victims in total.
Five of the victims were in serious condition as of Tuesday evening, including a pregnant woman listed in very serious condition. The woman subsequently lost her baby while fighting for her life in the hospital.
Magen David Adom emergency medical responders took four of the injured to Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv and the others to Beilinson Medical Center in Petach Tikva.
An armed civilian killed the terrorist, police said.
Israel Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai toured the scene of the attack and said that security forces had detained several people connected to the terrorist.
Hebrew media initially identified the terrorist as 23-year-old Hasin Halilah from the Palestinian village of Samua, near Hebron in Yehuda. He reportedly entered Israel using a valid permit issued for medical reasons. It subsequently emerged that the terrorist was actually Hasin’s 20-year-old brother Abed Halilah, who was in Israel illegally.
Hamas said that Halilah was a member of the Gaza-based terror group and praised the attack as a “heroic” response to Israel’s military operation in Jenin. However, the organization stopped short of claiming responsibility for the attack.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the attack would not break the country’s resolve to combat terrorism.
“Whoever thinks that such an attack will deter us from continuing our fight against terrorism is wrong. He simply does not know the spirit of the State of Israel, does not know our government, our citizens and our fighters,” Netanyahu remarked during a visit to the Salem crossing in northern Shomron where he received an update on the IDF’s Jenin counterterror operation.
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir hailed the civilian who shot and killed the terrorist.
“I congratulate the brave citizen who neutralized the terrorist, prevented the continuation of the incident and saved lives. This once again proves the importance and effectiveness of citizens carrying weapons,” said Ben-Gvir. “I call on those in the public who meet the requirements: Carry firearms with you.”
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich urged the country to unite in the face of Palestinian terrorism.
“Our enemies want to hurt us in Tel Aviv, in Eli and everywhere in the Land of Israel, and we need to show unity against them,” he said, referring to the June 20 attack in the Shomron town that killed four people.
Likud lawmaker Danny Danon said: “The wave of terror requires us to increase the activity against the terrorists. The Security Cabinet must immediately decide on decisive actions against wherever threats emanate. Only crushing the terrorist infrastructure will stop the terrible attacks.”
The Israeli embassy wrote of the attack, “There is no moral equivalence, no justification. Acts of Palestinian terrorism are fueled by an ideology of antisemitic hatred that vilifies the Jewish people.”
“Terrorism strikes again in the streets of Tel Aviv today,” tweeted Melissa Lantsman, a Jewish member of the Canadian Parliament. “Praying for the full recovery of those injured in today’s stabbing attack and car ramming attack. One victim— a pregnant woman who was wounded has lost her child as a result of her own injuries. An absolute tragedy. Another horrific act of terror, another incident the world won’t condemn.”
