Palestinian Knife Attacks in Israel Leave One Dead and Four Injured

In the fifth week of the security crisis between Israel and the Palestinians, on Monday, November 11, several knife attacks by Palestinians against citizens and soldiers occurred in various cities in Israel and the West Bank, resulting in the death of one Palestinian and at least four Israelis being injured. According to Israeli media, on Monday afternoon in the busy Hertzel Street in Rishon Lezion, a Palestinian man injured three passersby with a knife. Urban traffic cameras recorded the attack; several bystanders, noticing the fallen injured, including an 80-year-old woman, chased the attacker, who attempted to enter a cosmetics store. The shopkeeper lowered iron bars, and in this opportunity, angry people attempted to assault the wounded and trapped attacker. Police forces intervened and took him towards the police station amidst severe anger and shouts of 'Death to Arabs.' Israeli media reports that the Palestinian is 19 years old and from Hebron, having entered Israel illegally. About three hours later, a similar incident occurred on Benjamin Boulevard in Netanya, where the attacker injured a 71-year-old man and attempted to target others while running. An armed driving examiner nearby shot and wounded the attacker, and a police officer also fired shots at him; again, amidst the severe anger of the people wanting to beat the attacker, the police effectively prevented his killing. Footage of the attack in Netanya was also captured by local store cameras; Israeli media suggests that this Palestinian was likely brought to Netanya by another man and began the attack immediately upon exiting the vehicle. A police helicopter searched the area for the mentioned vehicle. The police stated that the Netanya attacker is also 22 years old and from Tulkarm, also lacking legal residency in Israel. Additionally, the Jerusalem police released footage from a street near the historic wall of the city showing a young Palestinian injuring an Israeli woman, a tour guide, by striking her with a broken bottle, but the attacker did not harm the foreign tourists around her and fled. The city police indicated that the severe security measures preventing Arabs from carrying knives have led those wishing to attack to resort to other methods, such as using broken bottles, which can injure targets like knives. The attacks on Monday against civilians come after recent knife attacks primarily targeted Israeli soldiers in Hebron. Earlier on Monday, two Palestinians were shot while attacking armed guards at the 'Jalameh' crossing in northern West Bank; one, aged 16, was killed, and the other was arrested. Meanwhile, Israeli media reports that the government has been forced to return the bodies of the attackers to their families on the condition that the funeral is held at night and attended only by relatives; a condition that Palestinians have completely disregarded. The cabinet had previously stated that the bodies would not be returned for now, but Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon opposed this decision. Palestinians initially justified the recent five-week attacks by expressing anger over a group of Jews entering Al-Aqsa. Israel has agreed to install surveillance cameras at Al-Aqsa, and the flames of the crisis have largely moved away from Al-Aqsa in recent days, with worshippers entering without age restrictions on the last two Fridays. Haaretz reports that approximately sixty attacks have occurred during this crisis so far. The number of Palestinian deaths has been at least 67, with forty of them being knife attackers. The number of Israeli deaths during this period has been 11. However, it seems that, contrary to the initial weeks of the crisis, Israeli forces have been instructed to capture attackers whenever possible instead of immediately neutralizing them.