Two dead, two injured in Holon terror stabbing attack; Palestinian assailant shot dead by police
Two Israeli civilians were killed and two others wounded in a terrorist stabbing attack in the central city of Holon on Sunday morning, police and medics said.
The terrorist, a Palestinian from the West Bank, stabbed the victims in three different locations before being shot dead by a police officer.
“This is a complex and difficult terrorist attack. The victims were in three different locations, about 500 meters from each other,” said doctors from the Magen David Adom ambulance service.
A 66-year-old woman was pronounced dead at the scene, the MDA said.
She was later identified as Rina Daniv, a resident of the town. Her husband, Shimon Daniv, 68, was seriously injured in the attack.
MDA said it transported three of the victims to nearby Wolfson Medical Center: a 70-year-old man in critical condition, a 68-year-old man in serious condition and a 26-year-old man in moderate condition.
רינה דניב, בת 66, נרצחה בפיגוע הדקירה בחולון@AnnaPines_ pic.twitter.com/hfihoYkFyv
– כאן חדשות (@kann_news) August 4, 2024
The seriously injured man arrived at Wolfson with no vital signs and was pronounced dead 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 petrol station, where he stabbed and seriously injured the man in his 60s, who was later pronounced dead.
Israeli security forces at the scene of a terrorist attack in Holon, August 4, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
The latest victim, Yakov Libertov, 26, was stabbed in 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 take a daily walk.
His sister-in-law volunteered with many nonprofit groups and was well known in Holon, Sasson said.
“There will be a lot of people in shock,” she said.
Sasson said that although seriously injured, Shimon asked about his wife at the hospital and said he “saw her fall.” Staff eventually revealed Rina’s fate to him.
Sasson said his brother was in stable condition and his life was no longer in danger.
Screenshot from a video of Rinat Sasson speaking to the media, August 4, 2024. (Ynet. Used in accordance with Article 27a of the Copyright Law)
Speaking to media from his hospital bed, Libertov explained that he was 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, although Libertov described him as having “an angry expression”.
The terrorist then rushed towards him, attacking him with a knife and stabbing Libertov in the shoulder. Libertov said the attacker remained silent, not shouting anything as he carried out the attack.
Libertov managed to fight off the attacker and escape, taking his dog with him, although he suffered moderate to serious injuries, including a stab wound to the shoulder and stomach.
He immediately called emergency services as he headed to the adjacent bus station “because I knew there would be a lot of people there”.
The drivers at the depot helped him by taking his call to the police and explaining to the officers that there had been an attack.
Screenshot from a video of Shimon Libertov speaking to the media, August 4, 2024. (Ynet. Used in accordance with Article 27a of the Copyright Law)
The terrorist was shot dead by a police officer who arrived at the scene, police said.
He was taken to Shamir Medical Center in critical condition, where he was pronounced dead a short time later, hospital officials said.
A security source identified 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 not committed any security-related offenses.
Police added that they were searching the area for possible additional suspects involved in the attack.
First responders at the scene of a suspected stabbing attack in the central city of Holon, August 4, 2024. (United Hatzalah)
The police officer who shot the terrorist told the media that he saw the attacker from his patrol car and thought he was an attacker and chased him on foot.
“He wasn’t running that fast,” the officer said. “I told him to stop, and then he turned toward me with the knife in his hand.”
“As soon as I noticed the knife, I pulled out my gun and told him to stop,” the officer continued. “He came towards me and I kept telling him to stop. He yelled something in Arabic while hiding behind a trash can, and then I ran towards him and shot him.”
Tensions in Israel and the West Bank have escalated since October 7, when terrorists crossed the Gaza border into Israel in a Hamas-led attack, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.
Since then, 25 Israelis, including members of the security forces, have been killed in Palestinian terrorist attacks in Israel and the West Bank, including in Sunday’s attack. Five other members of the security forces were killed in clashes with terrorists in the West Bank.
