Lod Stabbing Confirmed as Terror Attack

A stabbing last week in the Israeli city of Lod, which has been reported by police as a criminal incident, was revealed by the Shin Bet on Monday afternoon as a terrorist attack.

The terrorist, Malik Bassem Isma’il Sa’ada, a resident of Halhul, told the Shin Bet during questioning that he attempted to kill school principal Revital Kenino because she was Jewish.

Sa’ada, who was working in Israel without a permit, told interrogators that he had taken a knife from the bakery where he worked, and went in search of a Jewish woman to murder.

At first, he targeted another woman in a parking lot, but was unable to reach her before she entered a nearby building. After that, he noticed a woman with a head-covering in the parking lot. When he realized that she was Jewish, he approached her and pulled out the knife.

Kenino tried to fight off her assailant, but he stabbed her in the neck and shoulder. She was taken to Assaf Harofeh Hospital where she was treated for moderate wounds.

The terrorist, who fled the scene, was subsequently arrested as he tried to escape back to Halhul.

“I thank the Creator that I returned home to my family and to my children, and we were released last night after a follow-up at the hospital,” Kenino told Arutz Sheva.

“I have a stab wound in the back and shoulder area, and thank G-d, it was a great miracle,” she said.