The terrorist who fatally stabbed two people and injured two others on Sunday morning in the central city of Holon is Ammar Razek Kamel Odeh, 35, from the town of Salfit in the West Bank. He had been in Israel without a permit after entering the country on Thursday. On Sunday at noon, IDF soldiers mapped his house in preparation for demolition.
IDF mapping terrorist's home for destruction
Odeh was neutralized by the operations officer of the Holon police station, who shot him dead. He was critically injured by the shooting and later pronounced dead at Shamir Medical Center. He was not affiliated with any terrorist organizations, and locals reported that he had been rehabilitated from drugs and had been in prison several times. The police searched for additional perpetrators or accomplices and later ruled out the suspicion of a second terrorist. The Palestinian news agency Shehab reported that, after the attack, IDF forces closed the entrance to Salfit, where the terrorist lived.
Investigators from the Tel Aviv District Police, along with the Shin Bet, began probing the attack shortly after it occured. A preliminary investigation indicates the terrorist arrived in Israel from Salfit on Thursday. The investigation is currently tracing his activities in the days since he infiltrated Israel and whether he worked without a permit in the area where the attack occurred. It is also being investigated whether he entered Israel with the intent to carry out an attack and hid in recent days in order to be able to carry it out Sunday morning, in an area where hundreds of soldiers waited for transportation to their base and hundreds of passengers crowded the Moshe Dayan train station.
The investigation is also examining whether the terrorist received assistance from "fixers" who smuggle illegal workers into Israel or helped in hiding him, and whether the attack was planned in advance or was spur of the moment.
Inspector A, the operations officer who neutralized the terrorist, recounted to Ynet: "The suspect shouted in Arabic and ran toward me. I shouted at him, he continued toward me. I shot him and neutralized the terrorist. I heard on the radio that there was another scene where he stabbed additional people. Although I neutralized the terrorist, two were murdered in the attack."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday at the start of the cabinet meeting that: "We will hold accountable anyone who cooperated with the terrorist." Additionally, he praised the police officers who "engaged and neutralized the terrorist."
About two months ago, Ynet published that approximately 40,000 illegal Palestinian workers are employed in Israel. Although the number of illegal workers is gradually increasing, it is still not approaching the number of workers that previously existed in Israel, thus having a dramatic impact on the Palestinian economy. The inability to legally enter Israel for work also prevents many workers who hold permits from infiltrating Israel out of fear they will be caught and lose their work permit.
"They gave up on the pilot due to the opposition of Smotrich and Ben-Gvir," a security official explained at the time. "The truth is that even the security establishment is not pushing enough. Currently, about 6,500 essential workers enter Israel, and about 10,000 in the industrial areas in the West Bank, which is very little. It is clear that we would like more, but there is a political echelon. Netanyahu is unable to make decisions."
Minister of Culture and Sports, Miki Zohar, referred on Sunday morning in an interview with Ynet to the fact that the terrorist who carried out the attack is a resident of the West Bank in Israel illegally.
"Israel is in a complex reality, a situation of several open fronts. This does not prevent lone terrorists from trying to harm Israel, as happened this morning. The vigilance of citizens is important at this time. Israel needs to close its gates to all those people who want to enter to work and create other solutions by bringing foreign workers from around the world. It is forbidden to bring Palestinian workers here. They enter because there is a need. This needs to be addressed."
Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan said Sunday morning that "those who do not close the checkpoints in the West Bank will receive attacks in central Israel." According to him, "Time after time my colleagues demand that the checkpoints be returned, which we know were removed due to pressures from overseas. Again and again, our pleas and demands are met with disregard, and again and again it costs blood. This morning we received clear proof of the results of the policy of 'containment' and the preference of the enemy's fabric of life over ensuring the lives of Israeli citizens."
"I demand this morning from the prime minister, the defense minister, and the senior command in the IDF - close the security checkpoints! Change the directive that allows the illegal weapons in the Palestinian Authority."
The terrorist started his stabbing spree at the entrance to the bus parking lot on Dan Shomron Street on the southern tip of Holon, where he stabbed Yaakov Levertov, 26, who was walking his dog and was moderately injured. He then proceeded to the park and stabbed Rina Daniv, 66, and Shimon Daniv, 69, a husband and wife, who were seriously and critically injured. Magen David Adom staff pronounced Rina's death shortly thereafter.
The terrorist then fled toward the sidewalk outside the park, headed to Moshe Dayan Street, and at a nearby bus stop stabbed an elderly man about 80 years old who was critically injured and his death was later pronounced at Wolfson Medical Center. The terrorist was neutralized after being shot by Inspector A, who was in his police vehicle with another officer on their way to the station. The two noticed the incident, engaged and fatally shot the terrorist. The two injured in the attack were evacuated for medical treatment, and later the condition of the man who was seriously injured improved and is now defined as moderate.