On 5 May 2022, a mass stabbing took place in

El'ad El'ad, also spelled Elad ( he, אלעד), is a city in the Central District of Israel. In the 1990s, it was built for a Haredi Jewish population and to a lesser extent, it was also built for a Religious Zionist Jewish population. Located about e ...

, Central District,

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, during Israel's Independence Day (''Yom Ha'atzmaut).'' Three people were killed and four injured.

Israeli Police The Israel Police ( he, משטרת ישראל, ''Mišteret Yisra'el''; ar, شرطة إسرائيل, ''Shurtat Isrāʼīl'') is the civilian police force of Israel. As with most other police forces in the world, its duties include crime fight ...

identified the perpetrators as two

Palestinians Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

from

Rummanah Rummanah ( ar, رمّانه) is a Palestinian village located northwest of the city of Jenin in the northern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), the town had a population of 3,372 inhabitants in mid-year ...

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

. They were captured on 8 May.

Background

In the weeks preceding the stabbing,

and

Israeli Arabs The Arab citizens of Israel are the largest ethnic minority in the country. They comprise a hybrid community of Israeli citizens with a heritage of Palestinian citizenship, mixed religions (Muslim, Christian or Druze), bilingual in Arabic and ...

had perpetrated a string of deadly attacks in Israel, making it the deadliest period since 2006. A week before the attack, two

Hamas Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Bri ...

supporters from Nablus murdered a security guard in Ariel. While the search for the murderers was still going on by the Israeli Police,

Yahya Sinwar Yahya Sinwar ( ar, يحيى السنوار, born 1962; also called Yehya Al-Sinwar and spelled Yehiya Sinwar or Yehiyeh Sinwar) is the current Palestinian leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, having taken over from Ismail Haniyeh in February 2017. ...

, the leader of

Gaza Gaza may refer to: Places Palestine * Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea ** Gaza City, a city in the Gaza Strip ** Gaza Governorate, a governorate in the Gaza Strip Lebanon * Ghazzeh, a village in ...

, made a public speech where he encouraged the Palestinian and Israeli Arabs to "raise every possible weapon, will it be a rifle, a pistol, or a knife" against Israelis.

Attack

The attackers arrived at Shlomo Ibn Gbirol street at 20:35 local time, holding axes and a

pistol A pistol is a handgun, more specifically one with the chamber integral to its gun barrel, though in common usage the two terms are often used interchangeably. The English word was introduced in , when early handguns were produced in Europe, ...

. They encountered a security guard, who tried to stop them but was killed by the attackers.שלושה נרצחים ושני פצועים קשה בפיגוע באלעד; מתנהל מצוד אחר המחבלים

Maariv ''Maariv'' or ''Maʿariv'' (, ), also known as ''Arvit'' (, ), is a Jewish prayer service held in the evening or night. It consists primarily of the evening ''Shema'' and ''Amidah''. The service will often begin with two verses from Psalms, ...

, May 6th 2022 (in Hebrew) They then arrived at the nearby central park in El'ad, which was full of visitors who came to celebrate the 74th Independence Day of Israel, and began to attack them, killing two more men and wounding four more. Two of the killed victims were in their 40s, while the third victim was a 35-year-old man. A 60-year-old man and a 35-year-old man suffered serious injuries. Fighting the attackers, a 40-year-old man was moderately injured and a 23-year-old man lightly injured.

Perpetrators

The two perpetrators were identified by the

as As'ad Alrafa'ani (20) and Sabhi Shajir (19) from

, near

Jenin Jenin (; ar, ') is a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank. It serves as the administrative center of the Jenin Governorate of the State of Palestine and is a major center for the surrounding towns. In 2007, Jenin had a population of a ...

in the

. Both escaped in a vehicle after the attack. After two days of searching, both perpetrators were caught hiding in a nearby forest, between Elad and Rosh HaAyin, by two

Shin Bet The Israel Security Agency (ISA; he, שֵׁירוּת הַבִּיטָּחוֹן הַכְּלָלִי; ''Sherut ha-Bitaẖon haKlali''; "the General Security Service"; ar, جهاز الأمن العام), better known by the acronym Shabak ( he, ...

agents and an officer from Maglan commando unit.

Reactions

The

President of the State of Palestine The president of the State of Palestine is the head of state of Palestine. Yasser Arafat became the first titular president of the State of Palestine in 1989, one year after proclamation of independence. The title was originally titular, in par ...

, Mahmoud Abbas, said that "The killing of Palestinians and Israelis only leads to a further deterioration in the situation at a time when we are all begging to achieve stability and prevent escalation".

United States Secretary of State The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's ...

Antony Blinken Antony John Blinken (born April 16, 1962) is an American government official and diplomat serving as the 71st United States secretary of state since January 26, 2021. He previously served as deputy national security advisor from 2013 to 2015 and ...

said during a press briefing that the US "vehemently condemns" the "horrific attack targeting innocent men and women".

praised the attack, implying that it was in retaliation for recent clashes at the

Al-Aqsa Mosque compound The Temple Mount ( hbo, הַר הַבַּיִת, translit=Har haBayīt, label=Hebrew, lit=Mount of the House f the Holy}), also known as al-Ḥaram al-Sharīf (Arabic: الحرم الشريف, lit. 'The Noble Sanctuary'), al-Aqsa Mosque compou ...

, while not claiming responsibility.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad The Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine ( ar, حركة الجهاد الإسلامي في فلسطين, ''Harakat al-Jihād al-Islāmi fi Filastīn''), known in the West simply as Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), is a Palestinian Islamist pa ...

also praised the attack. Some Palestinians in Nablus,

Tulkarm Tulkarm, Tulkarem or Tull Keram ( ar, طولكرم, ''Ṭūlkarm'') is a Palestinian city in the West Bank, located in the Tulkarm Governorate of the State of Palestine. The Israeli city of Netanya is to the west, and the Palestinian cities of ...

, Gaza City and

Khan Yunis Khan Yunis ( ar, خان يونس, also spelled Khan Younis or Khan Yunus; translation: '' Caravansary fJonah'') is a city in the southern Gaza Strip. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Khan Yunis had a population of 142,6 ...

celebrated the attack, handing out candies to passers-by. A video encouraging the murder of Jews with an axe circulated on a Palestinian

Telegram Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...

channel. In Yemen, the

Houthis The Houthi movement (; ar, ٱلْحُوثِيُّون ''al-Ḥūthīyūn'' ), officially called Ansar Allah (' ''Partisans of God'' or ''Supporters of God'') and colloquially simply Houthis, is an Islamist political and armed movement that ...

celebrated the attack.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:El'ad stabbing, 2022 Axe attacks 2022 murders in Israel Central District (Israel) May 2022 crimes in Asia May 2022 events in Israel Stabbing attacks in 2022 Stabbing attacks in Israel Terrorist incidents in Israel in 2022 Terrorist incidents involving knife attacks

Background

Attack

Perpetrators

Reactions

See also

References