Four victims of Ra’anana terror attack remain in serious condition
Sixteen victims from Monday’s deadly stabbing and car-ramming spree in Ra’anana remain hospitalised, including four in serious condition.
Edna Blustein, 79, was murdered in a terrorist attack in Ra’anana, north of Tel Aviv, on Jan. 15, 2024. Photo: Courtesy of the Blustein family.
One victim, a 79-year-old woman identified as Edna Blustein, was declared dead at Meir Medical Centre in Kfar Saba on Monday.
Seven children were evacuated to Schneider Children’s Medical Center in Petach Tikvah, including a 16-year-old boy in serious condition and on a ventilator, hospital officials said.
At Beilinson Hospital in Petach Tikvah, a man in his 30s was in serious but stable condition after being operated on overnight, while a man in his 60s was in critical but stable condition. The hospital said both patients were intubated. A woman who was mildly injured was expected to be discharged on Tuesday.
Doctors at Meir Medical Centre said a man and a woman were in serious condition, another man was in moderate condition, and another woman was being treated for light injuries.
Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Centre (Ichilov Hospital) said two male patients underwent orthopedic surgery for broken bones.
Police arrested two Palestinian suspects, identified as Mahmoud Zidat, 44, and his nephew, Ahmed. Both were residents of Bani Naim, near Hebron. Despite not having work permits and being blacklisted from entering Israel by the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) as security risks, the two men had jobs at a Ra’anana car wash. Their employers have been arrested.
The attack began when they pulled a woman out of her jeep on Ra’anana’s Haharoshet Street, stabbed her, stole the vehicle and then proceeded to run over pedestrians. The Zidats abandoned the jeep after it got stuck.
One suspect stole a second car and continued driving into pedestrians before being stopped by police. The other commandeered Blustein’s car, stabbed her and also continued driving over people. After crashing into an electricity pole, he fled on foot but was caught a few minutes later.
It wasn’t immediately clear if the suspects were aligned with any Palestinian terrorist groups. Since Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre of some 1,200 persons living near the Gaza border, Israeli security forces have arrested more than 2,650 wanted Palestinian terrorism suspects in Judea and Samaria, of whom around 1,300 are associated with Hamas.
