An Italian tourist was killed and seven others were injured in a terrorist attack on a resort in Tel Aviv on Friday night. Police and doctors gave this information.
According to law enforcement officials, the alleged terrorist drove in a car and attempted to open fire on Kaufmann Street, leaving a trail of carnage several hundred meters away and into Charles Clore Park, a popular seaside resort.
The Magen David Adom ambulance service said one of the victims, a man in his 30s, had died, and seven others were injured, three of whom were in a critical condition.
The victim was later identified as Alessandro Parini, a 30-year-old Italian from Rome. According to hospital officials, the injured victims were also tourists from Italy and the United Kingdom. His name was not taken.
The attack was the second fatality of the day, after two sisters were killed and their mother is fighting for her life after being shot in the West Bank on Friday morning. Violence has escalated as tensions have risen in recent days after Israeli police infiltrated the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound to quell riots; On Thursday, Hamas militants fired rockets at Israel from Gaza and Lebanon, officials said.
His office said in a brief statement that following the attack, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed police to call up all reserve Border Police companies and the army to call up additional reservists.
Israeli police and emergency services stand around a car involved in an attack on April 7, 2023 in Tel Aviv, Israel. (AP Photo/Ariel Shalit)
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. Police said the perpetrator, an Arab Israeli man from the central Israeli city of Kafr Qassem, was shot dead by an officer who was in the area when he tried to fire a firearm.
“Policemen along with Tel Aviv municipal inspectors approached the car and saw that the driver was trying to reach for the weapon he was carrying,” police said.
Surveillance camera footage showed the attacker’s vehicle swerving toward pedestrians walking near the park.
Resort attack in Tel Aviv: security cameras documenting the attack Regular Updates >> https://t.co/aBDhe9QGeb pic.twitter.com/tQETL8A4kP
– Kann News (@kann_news) April 7, 2023
Another clip from the scene shows an overturned car in a park, with officers firing shots at a man who exited the vehicle.
Documenting the death of the terrorist from the attack in Tel Aviv pic.twitter.com/WrAafvcBen
– Vala! (@WallaNews) April 7, 2023
Tel Aviv police chief Amichai Eshad said the suspected attacker walked in a “clean” manner on the bicycle lane and hit several people in a pedestrian zone.
Eshad said in a statement to the media that police were investigating the attacker’s motives and background and were combing the area for evidence.
There is no fear of other attackers, he added.
Amichai Eshad, police chief of the Tel Aviv district, at the scene of a car-tramping attack in Tel Aviv on April 7, 2023. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
The name of the terrorist has been described as 45-year-old Yusef Abu Jaber, a resident of Kafr Qasim. He had no prior security offences.
Shin Bet agents and police officers were at Jaber’s home in the central Arab-majority city on Friday night to question members of his family.
Yousef Abu Jaber, 45, the terrorist who allegedly carried out an attack in Tel Aviv on April 7, 2023. (courtesy)
Tensions have risen across the region following intermittent rocket fire from the Gaza Strip and Israeli strikes from Lebanon, clashes at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, as well as a suspected Iranian drone launched from Syria. in the first week.
There have also been several attacks in the West Bank, with a car-trumping attack wounding three soldiers on Saturday, and two more soldiers wounded in separate shooting attacks on Wednesday and Thursday.
Also during the past week, two soldiers were wounded, one of them seriously, in a terrorist attack near the Tzerifin military base in central Israel.
The Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which this year once again coincides with the Jewish festival of Passover, is known as a period of high tensions between the Israeli military and Palestinians. Tens of thousands of worshipers throng the Al-Aqsa Mosque – Islam’s third holiest site, located in a compound that is holiest to Jews – regularly throughout the month amid increased tensions and violence with Israel.
The IDF closed the West Bank from 5 p.m. Wednesday until Saturday evening, closing crossing points for Palestinians on the first day of the Passover holiday. Gaza border crossings were also closed. The same was set for the last day of Passover the following week, starting on April 11 and ending on April 12.
Some intersections were opened on Friday for worshipers to attend congregational prayers at Al-Aqsa.
Such closures are standard practice during festivals and holidays. The military says they are a preventive measure against attacks in periods of heightened tension.
Tensions between Israel and the Palestinians have been high over the past year, with the IDF conducting overnight raids in the West Bank amid a series of deadly Palestinian terrorist attacks.
In recent months, 18 people have been killed and many more seriously injured in Palestinian terrorist attacks in Israel and the West Bank.
At least 89 Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of the year, most of them killed in carrying out attacks or during clashes with security forces, although some were non-involved civilians and others were killed under those circumstances. Which are being investigated.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
