Left: The scene of the stabbing attack. Right: The Tel Aviv bus where the attack was carried out (Facebook page of the Israel Police Force, January 21, 2015).
Overview
1. On January 21, 2015, a Palestinian terrorist carried out a stabbing attack on a crowded bus in Tel Aviv en route from Bat Yam (a city south of Tel Aviv) to Tel Aviv University (crossing the center of the city). According to reports from Magen David Adom, nine people were wounded, four of them critically and three seriously. In addition, 12 people were treated for shock (Magen David Adom spokesperson, January 21, 2015). The terrorist operative who carried out the attack came from Tulkarm, did not have a criminal record, and as far as is known did not belong to a terrorist organization. During interrogation he claimed he had carried out the attack in response to Operation Protective Edge and the events on the Temple Mount, and had been influenced by extremist Islamist media content describing the benefits of "arriving in paradise."
2. Generally speaking, stabbing attacks are not organized, but rather are carried out by lone terrorists (although sometimes they work in pairs) who do not belong to any of the established terrorist organizations. Knives are the usual weapons of choice, but axes, screwdrivers and other sharp implements have been used. The attacks are usually carried out in places where there are crowds, on public transportation and at focal points of Israeli-Palestinian friction (including the roadblocks manned by the Israeli security forces and junctions).
3. Motivation for the attacks includes the desire for revenge and/or the desire to make a contribution to he Palestinian campaign against Israel and/or the desire to be regarded as a hero. There is also the relatively new motivationinspired by Salafist-jihadi ideology, the result of the extensive media coverage given to the attacks and the intensive battle for hearts and minds waged by ISIS and the other jihadi organizations (Some Palestinians responses to the Tel Aviv attack had implied references to ISIS and the recent terrorist attacks in Paris; see Appendix A.).
4. Stabbing attacks, some of them fatal (see Appendix B), are part of the anti-Israeli Palestinian strategy known as the "popular resistance," or the "non-violent popular resistance," which is supported by the Palestinian Authority and Fatah.[1] The strategy is implemented in Judea, Samaria andeast Jerusalem for the most part, but from time to time filters into Israel itself. "Popular resistance" activities are not quiet protests, as represented by the PA, but make massive use of violence and terrorism (and therefore in Israel are called "popular terrorism"). Usually they involve stone and Molotov cocktail attacks against Israeli vehicles and the Israeli security forces. However, sometimes the popular resistance includes other types of terrorist attacks, such as stabbing and vehicular attacks, which are sometimes fatal.
The Stabbing Attack on a Bus in Tel Aviv
5. The January 21, 2015 stabbing attack on the bus in Tel Aviv began at 07:30 when a crowded bus en route from Bat Yam (a city south of Tel Aviv) to Tel Aviv University reached a main intersection. The terrorist, who had gotten on the bus two stops previously, took out a knife and stabbed the driver in the upper torso. He then stabbed passengers and returned to stab the driver again. The driver managed to open the bus doors and passengers began rushing off. He also braked suddenly, causing the terrorist to lose his footing, keeping him from stabbing more passengers.
6. When the doors opened the terrorist also got off the bus and ran away. As he ran he stabbed a woman in the street. Policemen working for the Israel Prison Authority who happened to be driving in a car behind the bus realized something was wrong when the bus swerved. They exited their car and chased the terrorist, shooting in the air. When he did not halt they shot him in the leg and apprehended him. His wound was not serious; he was evacuated to a hospital. He was detained and will be tried in a military court.
Left: The wounded receive medical assistance at the scene of the attack (Magen David Adom spokesperson, January 21, 2015). Right: The bus where the attack took place (Facebook page of the Israel Police Force, January 21, 2015).
The Terrorist Operative
7. The terrorist operative who carried out the attack was Hamza Muhammad Hassan Matrouk, born in 1992, from Tulkarm. According to the investigation, he acquired the knife in Tulkarm and arrived in Israel without an entrance permit on the morning of the attack. He claimed he carried out the attack because of Operation Protective Edge, the events on the Temple Mount and the influence of extremist Islamist media content describing the benefits of "arriving in paradise." He decided the best thing to do would be to carry out an attack (Shabak.gov.il, January 21, 2015). He got on the bus at the old Tel Aviv Central Bus Station a few minutes before carrying out the attack (Facebook page of the Israel Police Force, January 21, 2015).
Hamza Muhammad Hassan Matrouk, picture from his Facebook page, December 27, 2014
8. Hamza Muhammad Hassan Matrouk, the son of a former political prisoner, does not belong to any political, religious or terrorist organization and does not have a criminal-security record. According to family members, his parents are separated and most of the time he lived with his mother in Ramallah, where he worked as an electrician. He visited his father in the Tulkarm refugee camp before leaving to carry out the attack (according to family members, he visited his father infrequently).
9. A friend with whom he spent the evening before the attack said Matrouk talked about wanting to find work in Tel Aviv. On the morning of the attack he left Tulkarm and went to Jerusalem with a driver who transported workers from Judea and Samaria. From Jerusalem he apparently made his way to Tel Aviv (Ynetnews.co.il, January 21, 2015).
Reactions
Overview
10. The stabbing attack in Tel Aviv was widely covered by the Palestinian media, which supported the attack and glorified the attacker. Fatah justified it, and Hamas and the other terrorist organizations praised it. Updates on Palestinian TV's Facebook page were received with sympathy and approval from surfers, who praised the attack and attacker and called for more of them. Two notices of those examined by the ITIC had implied references to ISIS and the global jihad's attacks in Paris (See Appendix A for a selection of social media postings praising the attack).
11. The PA did not issue a formal announcement (as of the morning of January 25, 2015). No mention of the attack was made at the meeting of the PLO's Executive Committee, chaired by Mahmoud Abbas and held on the afternoon of the attack (Wafa.ps, January 21, 2015).
The Tulkarm Refugee Camp
12. Residents of the Tulkarm refugee camp praised the attack, calling Hamza Muhammad Hassan Matrouk "a real macho man and hero." A Facebook page started by friends called him "Abu Sayyaf." One possible interpretation of the Arab expression "Abu Sayyaf" is "beheader," someone who executes by beheading with a sword, an impliedreference to the ISIS beheadings.
Fatah
13. Amin Maqboul, secretary of Fatah's Revolutionary Council, claimed Israel was responsible for the attack in Tel Aviv. He claimed Israel's actions goaded young Palestinians to carry out such "acts of retribution." He claimed that such attacks were the Palestinian response to the "Israeli violations" of Al-Aqsa mosque and the construction in the settlements (Qudspress.com, January 21, 2015).
Hamas
14. Hamas praised both the attack and the attacker:
1) Izzat al-Rishq, a member of Hamas' political bureau, wrote on his Facebook page and Twitter account that the stabbing attack was "a daring feat of courage" and a legitimate response to "Israel's crimes against the Palestinian people" (Facebook page and Twitter accounts of Izzat al-Rishq, January 21, 2015).
Twitter account of Izzat al-Rishq, a member of Hamas' political bureau
2) Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri claimed that the attack in Tel Aviv was the "natural response" to Israeli terrorism, which harmed the Palestinians (Facebook page of Sami Abu Zuhri, January 21, 2015).
3) Senior Hamas figure Musheir al-Masri also claimed that the attack was "a daring feat of courage" and that the Palestinians had to continue along the path of "resistance" [i.e., violence and terrorism] until Israel had been defeated. He demanded that PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas stand shoulder to shoulder with his people, support the "resistance" and stop the security coordination with Israel (Alresala.net, January 21, 2015).
The Other Terrorist Organizations
15. Terrorist operatives from the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Popular Resistance Committees praised the attack, calling it the "natural response to Israel's actions" and a manifestation of the Palestinian people's desire to use "resistance" [i.e., violence and terrorism] as its strategic option.
[1]For further information about and an analysis of the "popular resistance" see the May 20, 2013 bulletin "The Palestinian 'Popular Resistance" and Its Built-In Violence."
