A 21-year-old man was slightly injured Tuesday in a car-ramming attack in Bnei Brak. Immediately after the incident, the police arrested the suspected driver, an Arab Israeli man from the northern Arab town of Zemer in his 20s, who tried to flee the scene of the attack. The police initially suspected that the incident was criminal, but later determined that it was a terror attack.
See Ynet's exclusive footage of the attack:
Footage of car ramming attack in Bnei Brak
(Video: Lior Ohana)
The incident occurred at 5:40 p.m. The police received a report of a hit-and-run accident on the street in Bnei Brak, with the driver fleeing the scene and continuing on his way. A motorcyclist chased after the suspect's vehicle. Officers from the Bnei Brak-Ramat Gan Police Motorcycle Unit pursued and caught the suspect in the vehicle, in a nearby underground parking garage where he had fled.
The police said that an initial investigation revealed that, the driver of the vehicle swerved onto the sidewalk while driving, and intentionally hit a pedestrian and continued driving until he was stopped by the police.
A Magen David Adom spokesperson said: "A report was received at MDA's 101 hotline in the Dan region about a pedestrian who was hit by a vehicle in Bnei Brak. MDA medics and paramedics are providing medical treatment and are taking a 21-year-old man to Mayanei Hayeshua Hospital in a minor condition with injuries to his limbs and back."
At noon, a police officer and a security guard were stabbed at the Karmiel police station, and after initially reporting that the background was criminal, the police updated that "the investigation is examining all possibilities." A young resident of the Arab town Nahf was arrested, and the condition of the station security guard is described as serious. The Shin Bet is involved in the investigation, and it appears that this was a nationalist attack.
Get the Ynetnews app on your smartphone: Google Play: https://bit.ly/4eJ37pE | Apple App Store: https://bit.ly/3ZL7iNv
The suspect arrived armed at the city's police station, and struggled to enter it and attack officers. He pulled out a sharp object, attacked a security guard and a police officer, and fled the scene. After a manhunt, police were able to arrest him. The officer's condition is described as mild, while the security guard was seriously injured.
The suspect is a resident of Nahf, the same home town as the terrorist who carried out the attack at the Karmiel mall in early July during which an IDF soldier, Sergeant Alexander Yakiminsky, was stabbed to death.