Israeli police arrest Palestinian with knife one day after bus stabbing

Ben Sales

TEL AVIV (JTA) — Israel Police arrested a Palestinian man wielding a knife in an Israeli city, one day after another Palestinian man who had crossed illegally into Israel stabbed passengers on a Tel Aviv bus.

The 22-year-old man was arrested in the central Israeli city of Raanana Thursday. He attempted to stab the police officers arresting him and was carrying a second knife, according to the Times of Israel.

The incident comes one day after at least 12 people were stabbed by Palestinian Hamza Muhammed Hasan Matrouk, 23, from the West Bank city of Tulkarem, on a Tel Aviv bus.

Four of the victims were wounded critically, including the bus driver, whose condition improved Thursday.

On Thursday, Israeli security forces raided three houses in Tulkarem in an investigation of Wednesday’s attack, arresting two Palestinians — a friend and a relative of Matrouk.