2015 Tel Aviv bus stabbing attack

Last updated

2015 Tel Aviv attacks
Location Tel Aviv, Israel
Date21 January 2015 (2015-01-21)
c. 7:30 a.m.
Attack type
 Stabbing
Weapons Knife
Deaths0
Injured12 (+1 attacker)
PerpetratorHamza Matrouk
MotiveIslamic extremism

During the morning rush hour of 21 January 2015, a Palestinian man from Tulkarm, West Bank boarded a bus in Tel Aviv and stabbed multiple people in a terrorist attack. [1] [2] [3] [4] After the bus he boarded had driven about 400 meters, the Palestinian attacked the driver, who fought back, before turning to other passengers and attacking them. The bus stopped, with the passengers fleeing, and the Palestinian attacked others too. Israeli police shot the terrorist in the foot and arrested him. [2]

Contents

Twelve people were injured in the attack. [5] The stabbing was the first violent incident in Tel Aviv since the November 2014 Killing of Sergeant Almog Shiloni. [6]

The New York Times characterized this attack as representing a new category of threat to Israelis, "attacks carried out with seeming spontaneity by individuals acting without the instruction or backing of an organization." [5]

Attacks

At 7:30 am the assailant boarded a bus in Tel Aviv about 7:30 a.m. and rode two stops before attacking the driver with a knife. [7] The driver, Herzl Biton, fought back, using pepper spray. [8] [9] The assailant attacked several passengers with the knife before they were able to open the doors of the bus and flee. [10] The assailant pursued the fleeing passengers, stabbing one a second time, before he attempted to flee the scene. [8]

As the assailant attempted to run away, bystanders who happened to be employees of the Israeli prison system gave chase, firing into the air. [10] When the fleeing assailant did not stop, they shot him in the legs and captured him. [10]

Perpetrator

The stabbing attack was carried out by Hamza Muhammad Hassan Matrouk, a 23-year-old illegal immigrant worker [11] from Al Jib. [5] His parents are divorced and his father resides in Tulkarem. [5] [12]

Residents of Tulkarem who knew the suspect stated that he was not affiliated with any political party. [6]

Trial and sentencing

Matrouk was a "lone wolf" who told the court that he had been motivated by watching radical Islamic programs on TV; he spoke of, “reaching paradise.” [13] [5]

Noting that the suspect was unrepentant and showed no empathy for his victims, Judge Yaron Levi, of the Tel Aviv District Court sentenced Matrouk to 28 years in prison. [13]

Response

Hamas leaders praised the attack, [14] calling it a, "natural reaction" on the part of an occupied people. Mousa Mohammed Abu Marzook said, "there is no bigger terrorism than occupying people, stealing their lands, freedom and dignity." [6]

The Popular Resistance Committees responded by asserting that, "Resistance attacks will not stop." [6]

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced the attack as a direct result of incitement by the Palestinian Authority of president Mahmoud Abbas, "The attack in Tel Aviv is a direct result of poisonous incitement from the Palestinian Authority towards Jews and their state. This is the same terror which tried to harm us in Paris, Brussels and everywhere."

The hashtag #JeSuisCouteau ('I am a knife') and an Arabic translated by the newspaper Haaretz as "#TheKnivesRevolution" instantly spread across the internet in support of the knife attack on Israeli bus passengers. In addition, many people posted images of knives dripping with blood on social media and called for more attacks on Israelis. [3]

Related Research Articles

On 10 February 2010, Palestinian Authority police officer Muhammad Hatib stabbed Druze Israeli soldier Ihab Khatib to death as the latter was sitting in a jeep at a traffic light. The attack was considered part of an "emerging trend" at the time, involving assaults on Israelis by members of the Palestinian Authority security services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gush Etzion Junction</span>

Gush Etzion Junction("Tzomet HaGush") also known as Gush Junction is a 120-dunam business, commercial and tourism center in the southern West Bank, which serves as the entry point to the Gush Etzion bloc of settlements. It is administered by the Gush Etzion Regional Council.

The 2011 Tel Aviv nightclub attack was a combined vehicular assault and stabbing attack which occurred on 29 August 2011 when a Palestinian attacker stole an Israeli taxi cab and rammed it into a police checkpoint guarding the popular nightclub, Haoman 17, in Tel Aviv which was filled with 2,000 Israeli teenagers. After crashing into the checkpoint, the attacker jumped out of the vehicle and began stabbing people. Four civilians, four police officers, and the assailant were injured in the attack. The assailant was living illegally in Israel at the time of the attack.

The 1989 Purim stabbing attack was the random stabbing of Israeli civilians in Tel Aviv, Israel on the Jewish holiday of Purim on 21 March 1989. The attacker was an Arab construction worker. Two civilians were murdered and one severely injured in the attack.

The Seafood Market attack was a Palestinian terrorist attack on the Seafood Market restaurant in Tel Aviv, Israel, on 5 March 2002. Palestinian terrorist Ibrahim Hasouna murdered three Israeli civilians, including a Druze policeman and wounded 35.

The 2013 Tapuah Junction stabbing occurred on 30 April, in which an armed Israeli settler, Evyatar Borovsky, was stabbed, disarmed and then, according to some witnesses, shot with his own weapon at a bus stop in the northern West Bank by a Palestinian resident of Tulkarem. The Israeli police described the attacker as a "Palestinian terrorist". The perpetrator was identified as Salam As'ad Zaghal, who had recently been released from 3.5 years in jail for planting explosives. The stabbing was praised by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party, its military wing, and its Islamist offshoot the Palestinian Mujahideen movement, and by Zaghal's family. Jewish settlers in the West Bank waged a series of violent reprisal attacks against Palestinian targets in the West Bank, and an Israeli outpost was later named in the victim's honor.

The 2014 Alon Shvut stabbing attack occurred on 10 November 2014, when Palestinian Maher al-Hashlamun first attempted to run his vehicle into a crowd waiting at the bus/hitch-hiking station at the entrance to the Israeli settlement of Alon Shvut, in the Gush Etzion section of the occupied West Bank, then, when the car was stopped by a bollard, got out and attacked with a knife, killing a young woman and wounding two others. The attack occurred four hours after the killing of Sergeant Almog Shiloni in Tel Aviv and took place at the same bus/hitch-hiking stop where three Israeli teenagers were kidnapped and murdered in June 2014.

Sergeant Almog Shiloni of the Israel Defense Forces was killed on 10 November 2014 after he was stabbed multiple times at Tel Aviv HaHagana Railway Station. He died in hospital from his wounds. Shiloni was off-duty, but in uniform and armed at the time.

Events in the year 2015 in Israel.

List of violent events related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict occurring in the second half of 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lions' Gate stabbings</span> 2015 incident in Jerusalem, Israel

On 3 October 2015, a Palestinian resident of al-Bireh attacked the Benita family near the Lions' Gate in Jerusalem, as they were on their way to the Western Wall to pray. The attacker murdered Aaron Benita, the father of the family, and injured the mother Adele and their 2-year-old son Matan. Nehemia Lavi, a resident who heard screams and came to help was also murdered and his gun taken by the assailant. The attacker, 19 year old Muhanad Shafeq Halabi was shot and killed by police as he was firing on pedestrians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015–2016 wave of violence in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict</span> Notable increase of violence in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict

An increase of violence occurred in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict starting in the autumn of 2015 and lasting into the first half of 2016. It was called the "Intifada of the Individuals" by Israeli sources, the Knife Intifada, Stabbing Intifada or Jerusalem Intifada by international sources because of the many stabbings in Jerusalem, or Habba by Palestinian sources. 38 Israelis and 235 Palestinians were killed in the violence. 558 Israelis and thousands of Palestinians were injured.

On 8 March 2016, a 21-year-old Palestinian man from Qalqilya killed an American tourist and wounded ten civilians in a stabbing spree in Jaffa Port, Tel Aviv, Israel. The attacker was shot dead by the police after a chase along the beach promenade.

This is a Timeline of events related to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict during 2016.

On 16 June 2017, two Palestinian men opened fire on Israeli police officers in the Old City of Jerusalem, injuring four of them. An additional attacker stabbed a policewoman, she was critically injured, and later died in hospital. All three attackers were shot and killed by the Israeli authorities.

The Halamish attack, or the Halamish massacre was a terrorist attack on a Jewish family in the West Bank Israeli settlement of Halamish, that took place on 21 July 2017, in which three Israelis were stabbed to death and one severely wounded. The victims of the attack were Yosef Salomon, his daughter Chaya and son Elad, the three who were murdered in the attack, and Tova Salomon, Yosef's wife, who was injured but survived.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2017 Temple Mount crisis</span>

The 2017 Temple Mount crisis was a period of violent tensions related to the Temple Mount, which began on 14 July 2017, after a shooting incident in the complex in which Palestinian gunmen killed two Israeli police officers. Following the attack, Israeli authorities installed metal detectors at the entrance to the Mount in a step that caused large Palestinian protests and was severely criticized by Palestinian leaders, the Arab League, and other Muslim leaders, on the basis that it constituted a change in the "status quo" of the Temple Mount entry restrictions.

On 2 August 2017, a 19-year old Palestinian teen critically injured an Israeli civilian with a knife at a local supermarket in the city of Yavne, located in the Central District of Israel. The attacker was subsequently arrested after being captured by civilians who were at the spot. Police confirmed the attack was an act of terrorism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of Itamar Ben Gal</span> 2018 stabbing attack on civilians in Ariel, West Bank

On 5 February 2018, 29-year-old rabbi Itamar Ben Gal from Har Brakha, was stabbed to death at the Ariel Junction, near the West Bank Israeli settlement and city of Ariel. The assailant had escaped from the scene, but was arrested following a six-week manhunt. A protester was killed during a violent demonstration against searching for the suspect.

On 13 October 2015, two Palestinians, armed with a firearm and a knife boarded a bus in the Israeli settlement of East Talpiot in East Jerusalem, and started attacking and stabbing the passengers. One of the assailants tried to take control on the bus and locked the bus door to prevent the passengers from escaping. Police arrived, killed one of the assailants and neutralized the other. Three civilians were killed and 15 wounded. One of the wounded succumbed to his wounds on 27 October 2015.

References

  1. ↑ Booth, Jenny (21 January 2015). "Schoolboy threw bag at knifeman during Tel Aviv bus attack". The Times . Retrieved 31 July 2015.
  2. 1 2 Hartman, Ben (21 January 2015). "Palestinian terrorist stabs 12 aboard crowded Tel Aviv bus". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
  3. 1 2 "'I am a knife' hashtag supports bus terror attack in Tel Aviv". Haaretz . 23 January 2015. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
  4. ↑ Khoury, Jack (21 January 2015). "Tel Aviv Bus Terrorist Says He Was Motivated by Gaza War, Temple Mount, Martyrdom". Haaretz . Retrieved 31 July 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Kershner, Isabel (22 January 2015). "Opening His Mother's Clothing Shop, and Then Heading to Tel Aviv for a Rampage". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "12 injured in Tel Aviv stab attack by Palestinian". Ma'an. Agence France-Presse. 21 January 2015. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
  7. ↑ Stabbing Attack on Tel Aviv Bus Wounds Nine, Some in Critical Condition (PDF). Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center (Report). Israeli Intelligence Heritage and Commemoration Center. 2015. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
  8. 1 2 Kewis, Avi (19 February 2015). "Tel Aviv bus stabber who injured 17 indicted". Times of Israel . Retrieved 29 July 2015.
  9. ↑ Epstein Elias, Bat-Chen (19 March 2015). "'רציתי להרוג אותו. ואז הוא דקר אותי שוב'" ['I wanted to kill him. And then he stabbed me again.']. Israel Hayom . Retrieved 26 March 2024.
  10. 1 2 3 Kershner, Isabel (21 January 2015). "Stabbing on Tel Aviv Bus Breaks a Fragile Calm". The New York Times . Retrieved 29 July 2015.
  11. ↑ Amir, Tal (12 October 2016). "מחוץ לסורגים: סוהרי השב"ס שהפכו לגיבורים בעל כורחם" [Outside the bars: the Israel Prison Service guards who became heroes against their will]. Maariv . Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  12. ↑ "Israel bus attack: Tel Aviv passengers stabbed". BBC. 21 January 2015. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
  13. 1 2 Beck, Jonathan (20 July 2015). "Tel Aviv bus stabber sentenced to 28 years in jail". Times of Israel . Retrieved 29 July 2015.
  14. ↑ Levinson, Chaim (21 January 2015). "12 Israelis wounded in stabbing attack on Tel Aviv bus". Haaretz . Retrieved 29 July 2015.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.