BICOM

Israeli police are combing the central city of Herzliya this morning following reports that an Arab man from East Jerusalem intended to carry out an attack there.

The man, named as 20-year-old Ahmed Hatib, is apparently from the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Tsur Baher and had an argument with his father over his plans to carry out an attack. He evaded a police checkpoint in Jerusalem before his car was later found abandoned in the centre of Herzliya. A police spokesperson said, “Forces have begun wide-ranging searches for the driver of the car.”

Police said that this morning’s manhunt was entirely unrelated to the ongoing search for Nashat Milhem, who carried out Friday’s shooting at a bar in central Tel Aviv, which killed two people. Milhem, from the northern Arab town of Arara, fled the scene following the shooting and has since evaded capture. Police have focused on Tel Aviv’s Ramat Aviv Gimmel neighbourhood, where Milhem used to work. However, he still remains at large. Meanwhile, security has been increased at Tel Aviv’s nurseries, schools and educational institutions.

In Jerusalem yesterday, an Arab resident of the city attempted to stab two policemen near the city’s light rail on Bar Lev Street, an area which has seen several attacks during the past three months. Having noted that he was acting suspiciously, “Police units immediately began tracking the suspect, and when officers closed in to question him, he pulled a knife from his pocket, at which time he was shot in the leg,” according to police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld. A 15-year-old girl and a 29-year-old man were very lightly wounded as they attempted to flee the scene. The attacker was taken to a Jerusalem hospital and treated for gunshot wounds.

Yesterday’s attempted stabbing follows a similar incident in Jerusalem’s Armon Hanatziv neighbourhood on Sunday, in which a Palestinian teenager was apprehended for attempting to stab an Israeli at a bus stop.