Israeli police on Monday identified the suspected perpetrator of the stabbing attack in Haifa (northern Israel), in which a 65-year-old man was killed and four others were injured, as an Israeli Druze citizen living in the neighbouring town of Shfaram (Shefa Amr).
"The terrorist, an Israeli Druze resident of Shfaram, spent recent months abroad and returned to Israel last week," police said in a statement, although the motive has not yet been clarified.
The newspaper Haaretz The outlet identified him as Yitro Shaheen, 20. “Acquaintances of the attacker reported that he had difficulty adjusting and suffered from social problems,” the outlet added.
The paper notes that Shaheen's grandfather emigrated to Lebanon in the 60s and eventually settled with his family in Germany. The terrorist's father tried to get the family to return to Shfaram, but they ended up back in Germany due to problems with adaptation.
Shaheen also had German nationality.
The same newspaper reports that the young man was shot dead on the spot by a security guard and an armed civilian.
Police were alerted about the stabbing at around 9.50:XNUMX a.m. During the attack, the Israeli Druze stabbed four civilians inside a bus and at the Haifa Hamifraz central bus station, according to the police report.
"In addition, a man in his 60s was fatally stabbed several times in the back," police said in reference to the deceased.
Shfaram, the town where the attacker lived, is about 20 kilometres from Haifa. Its population is predominantly Arab Muslim, with Christian and Druze minorities.
The Druze of Israel reside mainly in the Galilee and the Golan Heights.
On Monday, the terrorist stabbed and killed the 65-year-old man, leaving three seriously injured (a man and a woman in their 30s and a 15-year-old teenager) and one in moderate condition, a 70-year-old woman.
The child underwent emergency surgery at Haifa's Rambam Hospital, where he is in stable condition in the intensive care unit.
Agencies contributed to this Aurora article
Very strange being a Druze.