On 5 May 2022, a

terror attack Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

took place in

El'ad El'ad () is a city in the Central District of Israel. In the 1990s, it was built for a Haredi population and to a lesser extent, it was also built for a Religious Zionist Jewish population. Located about east of Tel Aviv on Route 444 between R ...

, Central District,

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, during Israel's Independence Day (''Yom Ha'atzmaut).'' Four civilians were murdered and several others were injured.

Israeli Police The Israel Police (; ) is the civilian police force of Israel. As with most other police forces in the world, its duties include crime fighting, traffic control, maintaining public safety, and counter-terrorism. It is under the jurisdiction o ...

identified the perpetrators as two

Palestinians Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenou ...

from

Rummanah Rummanah () is a Palestinian village in the Jenin Governorate of Palestine, located northwest of the city of Jenin in the northern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), the town had a population of 3,372 in ...

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

. They were captured on 8 May.

Background

In the weeks preceding the stabbing,

and

Israeli Arabs The Arab citizens of Israel form the country's largest ethnic minority. Their community mainly consists of former Mandatory Palestine citizens (and their descendants) who continued to inhabit the territory that was acknowledged as Israeli by ...

had perpetrated a string of deadly attacks in Israel, making it the deadliest period since 2006. A week before the attack, two

Hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...

supporters from

Nablus Nablus ( ; , ) is a State of Palestine, Palestinian city in the West Bank, located approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 156,906. Located between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a ...

murdered a security guard in Ariel. While the search for the murderers was still going on by the Israeli Police,

Yahya Sinwar Yahya Ibrahim Hassan Sinwar (; 29 October 1962 – 16 October 2024) was a Palestinian militant and politician who served as chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau from August 2024, and as the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip from February ...

, the leader of

Gaza Gaza may refer to: Places Palestine * Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea ** Gaza City, a city in the Gaza Strip ** Gaza Governorate, a governorate in the Gaza Strip Mandatory Palestine * Gaza Sub ...

, made a public speech where he encouraged the Palestinian and Israeli Arabs to "raise every possible weapon, will it be a rifle, a pistol, or a knife" against Israelis.

Attack

The attackers arrived at Shlomo Ibn Gbirol street at 20:35 local time, holding

axe An axe (; sometimes spelled ax in American English; American and British English spelling differences#Miscellaneous spelling differences, see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for thousands of years to shape, split, a ...

s and a

pistol A pistol is a type of handgun, characterised by a gun barrel, barrel with an integral chamber (firearms), chamber. The word "pistol" derives from the Middle French ''pistolet'' (), meaning a small gun or knife, and first appeared in the Englis ...

. They encountered a security guard, who tried to stop them but was killed by the attackers.שלושה נרצחים ושני פצועים קשה בפיגוע באלעד; מתנהל מצוד אחר המחבלים
,

Maariv ''Maariv'' or ''Maʿariv'' (, ), also known as ''Arvit'', or ''Arbit'' (, ), is a Jewish prayer service held in the evening or at night. It consists primarily of the evening '' Shema'' and ''Amidah''. The service will often begin with two ...

, May 6th 2022 (in Hebrew) They then arrived at the nearby central park in El'ad, which was full of visitors who came to celebrate the 74th Independence Day of Israel, and began to attack them, killing two more men and wounding four more. Two of the killed victims were in their 40s, while the third victim was a 35-year-old man. A fourth victim, a 75-year-old man, succumbed to his wounds in February 2023, eight months after the attack. A 60-year-old man and a 35-year-old man suffered serious injuries. Fighting the attackers, a 40-year-old man was moderately injured and a 23-year-old man lightly injured.

Assailants

The two assailants were identified by the

as As'ad Alrafa'ani (20) and Sabhi Shajir (19) from

, near

Jenin Jenin ( ; , ) is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, and is the capital of the Jenin Governorate. It is a hub for the surrounding towns. Jenin came under Israeli occupied territories, Israeli occupation in 1967, and was put under the administra ...

in the

. Both escaped in a vehicle after the attack. After two days of searching, they were caught hiding in a nearby forest, between Elad and Rosh HaAyin, by two

Shin Bet The Israel Security Agency (ISA; , (GSS); ), better known by the Hebrew acronyms, acronyms Shabak (; ; ) or Shin Bet (from the abbreviation of , "Security Service"), is Israel's internal Security agency, security service. Its motto is "''Magen ...

agents and an officer from

Maglan Maglan (, also known as Unit 212 or Sayeret Maglan) is a sayeret (''reconnaissance'') unit of the Israeli Defense Forces, which specializes in operating behind enemy lines and deep in enemy territory using advanced technologies and weaponry. M ...

commando unit.

Reactions

The

President of the State of Palestine The president of the State of Palestine () is the head of state of Palestine. Yasser Arafat became the first titular president of the State of Palestine in 1989, one year after the Palestinian Declaration of Independence. The title was origina ...

Mahmoud Abbas Mahmoud Abbas (; born 15 November 1935), also known by the Kunya (Arabic), kunya Abu Mazen (, ), is a Palestinian politician who has been serving as the second president of Palestine and the President of the Palestinian National Authority, P ...

, said that "The killing of Palestinians and Israelis only leads to a further deterioration in the situation at a time when we are all begging to achieve stability and prevent escalation".

United States Secretary of State The United States secretary of state (SecState) is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The secretary of state serves as the principal advisor to the ...

Antony Blinken Antony John Blinken (born April 16, 1962) is an American lawyer and diplomat who served as the 71st United States secretary of state from 2021 to 2025. He previously served as Deputy National Security Advisor, deputy national security advisor ...

said during a press briefing that the US "vehemently condemns" the "horrific attack targeting innocent men and women".

praised the attack, implying that it was in retaliation for recent clashes at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, while not claiming responsibility.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad The Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine (, ''Harakat al-Jihād al-Islāmi fi Filastīn''), commonly known simply as Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), is a Palestinian Islamist paramilitary organization formed in 1981. PIJ formed as an offsh ...

also praised the attack. Some Palestinians in

Tulkarm Tulkarm or Tulkarem (, ''Ṭūlkarm'') is a Palestinians, Palestinian city in the West Bank, the capital of the Tulkarm Governorate of the State of Palestine. The Israeli city of Netanya is to the west, and the Palestinian territories, Palestinia ...

Gaza City Gaza City, also called Gaza, is a city in the Gaza Strip, Palestine, and the capital of the Gaza Governorate. Located on the Mediterranean coast, southwest of Jerusalem, it was home to Port of Gaza, Palestine's only port. With a population of ...

and

Khan Yunis Khan Yunis (), also spelled Khan Younis or Khan Yunus, is a city in the southern Gaza Strip, Palestine, and serves as the capital of the Khan Yunis Governorate. It has been largely destroyed during the Gaza war. Before the 14th century, Khan Y ...

celebrated the attack, handing out candies to passers-by. A video encouraging the murder of Jews with an axe circulated on a Palestinian

Telegram Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas pi ...

channel. In Yemen, the

Houthis The Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, is a Zaydism, Zaydi Shia Islamism, Shia Islamist political and military organization that emerged from Yemen in the 1990s. It is predominantly made up of Zaydi Shias, with their namesake leadersh ...

celebrated the attack. World leaders - including the President of France,

Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France and Co-Prince of Andorra since 2017. He was Ministry of Economy and Finance (France), Minister of Economics, Industr ...

, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and the Secretary of State of the United States,

- condemned the attack and expressed their condolences.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:El'ad stabbing, 2022 Axe murder 2022 murders in Israel Central District (Israel) May 2022 crimes in Asia May 2022 in Israel Stabbing attacks in 2022 Mass stabbings in Israel Terrorist incidents in Israel in 2022 Mass murder in 2022 Palestinian political violence 21st-century mass murder in Israel

Background

Attack

Assailants

Reactions

See also

References