Suspected car ramming attacks in Ra'anana
(Videos: Ido Erez, Tal Shahar, Yair Shagi, Magen David Adom Operations Documentation, Meir Medical Center Spokesperson)
One person is dead and at least 18 are injured after being hit by a car and possibly also stabbed in various streets in the central Israeli city of Ra'anana, leaving four in serious condition, nine in moderate condition and six in mild condition. There are at least three arenas in the city where the attacks took place. According to the initial suspicion, one car first hit passers-by on Haharoshet Street and then headed to Ahuza Street, and ran over other civilians at a bus stop. The slain victim is a 79-year-old woman who was pronounced dead at Meir Hospital in Kfar Saba.
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Police are reporting that the terrorist, a resident of the West Bank city of Hebron who illegally entered Israel, was arrested. A second terrorist, a relative of the driver, was later also arrested.
The incident is believed to be a terror attack in which the terrorists ran over civilians with stolen vehicles.
"It is suspected to be a rolling incident in which the suspect changed vehicles three times during the incident," according to police.
Police spokesman Eli Levy first said that it had not yet been definitively determined that it was a terror attack, but noted that the suspicion of it was growing stronger by the minute. "We have brought in large forces of the Central District and special units to understand the magnitude of the incident," he said. Levy noted that it is not yet clear whether it is one threat or several, but noted that it is probably one attacker.
Sarit, who survived the attack and was standing near the bus stop on Ahuza Street where some of the victims were run over, described what happened.
"People were standing at the bus stop, and at one point a white car came and hit people here at the bus stop. It's terrible. People were run over here in an instant; it entered with force and hit people at the stop."
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Security forces are searching for additional attackers following car-ramming and stabbing attacks in Ra'anana
(Photo: Eitan Glickman)
Another eyewitness, Eli Gutman, recalled the incident. "I was standing near the bus stop, ready to cross the road to the nearest cafe here; I saw a white car - it accelerated a little before the station and then hit people hard and went into a wall."
According to initial reports, the terrorist was neutralized around 2:20 p.m., but the city is still being searched for additional hazards.
It was also reported that Mayor Rafi Saar ordered security forces to close the electric gates to traffic from next door to eastern Kfar Saba and deployed increased forces in areas with large crowds and school students. "We ask everyone to remain vigilant, and to report any unusual incident," the mayor asked.
According to Magen David Adom, a total of 19 injured were evacuated - including a 70-year-old woman in critical condition. Meir Hospital in Kfar Saba received six injured, including one in critical condition, as well as one in serious condition and four in light condition. Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikah received six injured, including three in serious condition, two in moderate condition and one in light condition. Two moderately injured were evacuated to Sourasky Medical Center in Tel Aviv. Schneider Children's Hospital received four moderately injured children and teens from the attack.