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Photos: Published by Haaretz
The scene of the attack in Gan Yavne, on Sunday night. Credit: Hadas Parush

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir at the scene of the attack. Credit: Hadas Parush

Knives used by the attacker. Credit: Police Spokesperson's Unit
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The police identified the attacker as Mumeen Al-Khalil, 19, from the West Bank village of Dora ■ A senior police officer said that he attacked three young men in a café next to a shopping center in the southern town of Gan Yavne

by Eden Solomon, Josh Breiner, and Ido Efrati
for Haaretz
April 1, 2024

Three Israelis were wounded late on Sunday in a stabbing attack which took place in a shopping center in the southern Israeli town of Gan Yavne. The attacker was shot dead, according to the police.

The police identified the attacker as Mumeen Al-Khalil, 19, from the West Bank village of Dora, near the city of Hebron, and found that he stayed in Israel illegally.

The three wounded, aged 17, 20 and 25, were taken to a nearby hospital in the city of Ashdod, according to the Magen David Adom emergency service, some of whom were unconscious.

Southern District Commander Maj. Gen. Amir Cohen said that Al-Khalil, who previously had a work permit in Israel, attacked the young men in a café next to a shopping center in the city.

Israel Levi, who was at the scene of the attack, testified: "Suddenly we heard screams, we saw people upstairs struggling with the assailant." According to him, people nearby "shouted for us to run away, and we ran fast, and we heard a burst of shots."

Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir arrived at the scene of the attack.

The Israeli police arrested two people overnight into Monday suspected of being involved in the stabbing attack.

The suspects – residents of the Bedouin community in the country's south – are both in their 40s and allegedly drove Al-Khalil after he entered Israel, and helped him make his way to Gan Yavne, the police said.

The suspects were interrogated through the night on suspicion of aiding and abetting terrorism alongside other criminal offenses, and will be brought before a court Monday with a request to extend their detention.

Earlier on Sunday, a 20-year-old IDF officer was wounded lightly after he was stabbed at the central bus station in the southern Israeli city of Be'er Sheva.

The assailant, Naji Abu Fereh, 28, a resident of Rahat, stabbed the young man with a kitchen knife and was shot by another soldier present. He was rushed to Soroka Medical Center in the city, where he was pronounced dead. Police believe the incident was a terrorist attack.
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Palestinian Killed After Wounding 3 Israelis near Ashdod

by IMEMC News
April 1, 2024

Israeli police said they killed the perpetrator of a stabbing attack in Gan Yavni, east of Ashdod, noting that 3 people were injured. The Israeli ambulance service said that 3 injured in this operation were seriously wounded, while Israeli and Palestinian platforms circulated scenes that they said were from the scene.

Al Jazeera’s correspondent said large Israeli police forces were conducting a search at the site of the stabbing in search of any additional suspects.

The city of Ashdod is constructed on the Palestinian town of Isdud, which was confiscated by the newly-formed state of Israel in 1948. The Palestinian residents forced to flee from Isdud became refugees — many of them moving to Gaza, never to return.