Two Israelis were killed, and two others were wounded in a stabbing and shooting attack on Sunday in the center of the city of Holon, near Tel Aviv.

The attacker shot two Israelis on Moshe Dayan Street, located in downtown Holon, before moving to another location and stabbing others. Later he was critically wounded by Israeli police. 

Israeli police sources said that the attacker is a young Palestinian from the city of Salfit in the northern West Bank, adding that they are conducting a large-scale search using a helicopter in Holon fearing the presence of other Palestinian fighters. 

Meanwhile, Israeli Army Radio reported that a Palestinian “carried out a stabbing attack in Holon, killing an Israeli and wounding three others,” explaining that the attacker entered without a residence permit.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz said the attacker “was seriously wounded by gunfire by a policeman.”

The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth quoted the Magen David Adom ambulance service as saying that those wounded in Holon from the stabbing attack were in three different places, about 500 meters apart

⚡️ A Palestinian from the West Bank stabbed 5 settlers in Holon, near Tel Aviv, at two separate sites. According to Hebrew sources, 1 is dead, 3 are wounded, and 1 is in critical condition. The assailant was shot dead. pic.twitter.com/31WhJ1Lguq

— Warfare Analysis (@warfareanalysis) August 4, 2024

Commenting on the Holon operation, Israel’s extremist National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said that his government has distributed thousands of weapons to the Israelis, calling for them to be carried and used, adding that “our war is not only against Iran but also here in Israel.”

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid, however, blamed Ben-Gvir, accusing him of failure. “Since Ben Gvir took office, our streets have been filled with murders and attacks, and no minister has been as a failure and as miserable” as Ben-Gvir.

“The personal security of Israelis is collapsing, and the police are at an all-time low,” Lapid said, adding that “the only thing Ben Gvir does is (media) interviews and provocations.”

The acting commissioner general of the Israel Police described the operation as “difficult” and said the security situation was “serious.”

ISRAELI AMBULANCE SERVICE: The death toll in the stabbing attack in the city of Holon, south of Tel Aviv, has risen to two, in addition to two serious injuries.

FOLLOW OUR LIVE BLOG https://t.co/mANBbWXzNQ pic.twitter.com/NF3DmU8NnA

— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) August 4, 2024

Palestinian Reactions 

The Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas said that the stabbing attack was “heroic” and was a “natural response to the ongoing crimes of the occupation against the Palestinian people”. 

The movement mourned the “martyr Ammar Rizk Odeh”, who carried out the attack.

Other Palestinian movements also declared their support for the operation inside Israel which comes amid unprecedented Israeli violence throughout occupied Palestine, including Jerusalem. 

Since October 7, 2023 – the start of the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza – Israel has escalated its attacks on the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as it has killed more than 600 Palestinians, including more than 140 children, and injured 5,400 others. 

The Israeli occupation army and police also arrested more than 9,890 Palestinians, according to official Palestinian sources.

(AJA, PC)