“Many Lives Saved With Death”
Security guard killed in Tel Aviv attack
8/5/2023 9:39 p.m
Shots are fired again in the heart of Tel Aviv. A security guard can prevent people from getting hurt – but pays with his life. It is the fourth attack this year. The Islamist Hamas speaks of a reaction to Israel’s actions in the occupied West Bank.
An Israeli security guard has died after an attack in Tel Aviv. The 42-year-old man died in a hospital in the Mediterranean city, a hospital spokesman said. The father of three daughters prevented a major attack and “saved many lives with his death,” said the spokesman. The alleged assassin – a Palestinian – had previously died in hospital from his injuries.
According to police, the attacker was a Palestinian from Jenin in the West Bank. The 27-year-old carried a suicide note with him, said police chief Kobi Schabtai at the scene of the attack, according to the Times of Israel. “He came to be a martyr,” Shabtai said.
According to the information, the Palestinian was approached by two city government security guards because he seemed suspicious to them. He then opened fire and hit one of the men. The second fired back and disabled the assassin.
Settlers kill 19-year-old Palestinian
Sirens from numerous ambulances and police cars could be heard in the center of Tel Aviv after the attack. A senior member of Hamas, the Palestinian organization that governs the Gaza Strip, called the attack “a heroic act and a natural response to the killing of two young men in the West Bank on Friday.” Israeli settlers shot dead a 19-year-old Palestinian near Ramallah on Friday and injured other people.
The settlers entered the Palestinian village of Burka. They also set fire to two vehicles there, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported. Two suspects were arrested, according to police. According to the Ministry of Health, an 18-year-old was killed during a raid by the Israeli army in the Palestinian city of Tulkarem.
The attack in Tel Aviv was the fourth this year in the Mediterranean city. Most recently, a Palestinian attacker drove his car into a crowd there a month ago, injuring several people. Several militant Palestinian groups called the attack a response to an Israeli military offensive in the West Bank.
Civilians keep falling victim
The security situation in Israel and the occupied West Bank has long been tense. Since the beginning of the year, 23 Israelis, one Ukrainian and one Italian have been killed in attacks by Palestinians. During the same period, 169 Palestinians died in Israeli military operations, confrontations or after their own attacks.
The majority are armed combatants, but innocent civilians are also among those killed in military operations. There are also repeated reports of violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians, Israeli activists or soldiers.
Israel conquered the West Bank and East Jerusalem in 1967. More than 600,000 Israeli settlers live there today. The Palestinians claim the territories for an independent state of Palestine with the Arab-influenced eastern part of Jerusalem as the capital.