Two dead, 2 hurt in terror stabbing spree in Holon; Palestinian attacker shot by police
Rina Daniv, 66, and man in 70s declared dead; Daniv’s husband injured; the couple were having their daily walk in the park; assailant did not have entry permit to Israel
Two Israeli civilians were killed and two others were wounded in a terror stabbing attack in the central city of Holon on Sunday morning, police and medics said.
The terrorist, a West Bank Palestinian, stabbed the victims at three different locations before being shot dead by a police officer.
“This was a complex and difficult terror attack. The casualties were at three separate locations, approximately 500 meters from each other,” Magen David Adom ambulance service medics said.
A woman aged 66 was declared dead at the scene, MDA said.
She was later identified as Rina Daniv, a resident of the city. Her husband, Shimon Daniv, 68, was seriously injured in the attack. The couple were enjoying their daily walk in the park when attacked, the family said.
MDA said it took three of the victims to nearby Wolfson Medical Center: A man in his 70s in critical condition, a man aged 68 in serious condition, and a 26-year-old in moderate condition.
The critically wounded man arrived at Wolfson without vital signs, and his death was declared there, hospital officials said.
The terrorist stabbed the first victims — the Danivs — at the entrance to a park on Moshe Dayan Street.
He then continued to a nearby bus stop adjacent to a gas station, where he stabbed and critically wounded the man in his 70s, who was later declared dead.
The last victim, 26-year-old Yakov Libertov, was stabbed at a bus parking lot on Dan Shomron Street, according to MDA.
Shimon Daniv’s sister, Ronit Sasson, told Ynet that her brother and his wife were out taking a daily walk.
Her sister-in-law was a volunteer at many non-profit groups and was well-known in Holon, Sasson said.
“There will be many people in shock,” she said.
Sasson said that though seriously injured, Shimon had been asking at the hospital about his wife and said that “he saw her fall.” Staff eventually told him the grim fate of Rina.
Sasson said her brother is in stable condition and no longer in life-threatening danger.
Speaking to the media from his hospital bed, Libertov explained he was out walking his dog on a route he takes daily through a local park, when he saw the terrorist approaching him.
However, he was not alarmed as the man was walking slowly and did not appear to be carrying a weapon, though Libertov described him as having “an angry expression.”
Then, the terrorist abruptly charged at him, attacking with a knife, and stabbing Libertov in the shoulder. Libertov said the attacker was silent, not shouting anything as he carried out the assault.
Libertov was able to ward off the assailant and escape, taking his dog with him, though he suffered moderate to serious injuries with a stab wound to his shoulder and stomach.
He immediately called emergency services while heading to the adjacent bus depot “because I knew there would be a lot of people there.”
Drivers at the depot helped him while taking over his call to the police and explaining to officers that there had been an attack.
The terrorist was shot by an officer who arrived at the scene, police said.
He was brought to Shamir Medical Center in critical condition, where his death was declared a short while later, hospital officials said.
He was identified by a security source as Amar Odeh, 34, a resident of the West Bank city of Salfit. The source said he did not have an entry permit to Israel and had no prior security-related offenses.
Police added that they were scanning the area for possible additional suspects involved in the attack.
The police officer who shot the terrorist told the media that he saw the attacker from his patrol car, and thinking he was a mugger, gave chase on foot.
“He wasn’t running so fast,” the officer said. “I told him to stop, and then he rounded on me with the knife in his hand.”
“As soon as I noticed the knife I pulled out the pistol and said to stop,” the officer continued. “He approached me and I kept telling him to stop. He shouted something in Arabic while hiding behind a garbage bin and then I ran towards him, and then I shot him.”
Tensions in Israel and the West Bank have soared since October 7, when terrorists burst through the Gaza border into Israel in a Hamas-led attack, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 251 hostages.
Since then, 25 Israelis, including security personnel, have been killed in Palestinian terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank — including in Sunday’s attack. Another five members of the security forces were killed in clashes with terror operatives in the West Bank. PJC
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