Police shoot, kill knife-wielding man in Lod after he charges at officer
Patrol spots local carrying blade who tries to stab officer when they attempt to intervene, police say; cousin claims slain man was mentally ill, was holding scissors
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Law enforcement shot and killed a man who tried to stab an officer Wednesday in the mixed Jewish-Arab city of Lod, police said.
According to police, officers on patrol noticed a suspect with a knife in his hand, and called on him to stop. Instead, he ran toward police and tried to stab one of the officers.
“The officer shot at the assailant and neutralized him,” police said, adding that no officers were injured in the incident.
The slain man, later identified as 28-year-old Sami Jassous, suffered from mental health issues and had been discharged from a psychiatric hospital two months prior to the incident, several relatives told Hebrew outlets.
Police initially characterized the incident as an attempted terror stabbing, but later appeared to walk back the assertion, noting that “all lines of investigation are being probed.”
Large numbers of police were deployed to the area, and Central District police commander Amir Cohen visited the scene, police said. The circumstances of the incident are under investigation.
Police forces operate in Lod after shooting and killing an Arab Israeli resident who tried to stab a police officer on June 1, 2026. (Israel Police)
Cohen praised the “quick, professional and determined response of the officers, which prevented harm to human life and ended the incident in a short period of time,” police said.
A cousin of the slain man lamented his relative’s death, telling the Ynet news outlet that he had been discharged from the Abarbanel Mental Health Medical Center two months ago.
“He’s not mentally sound. He was stressed from the police coming towards him, unsheathed a pair of scissors, then they emptied a magazine on him,” the cousin, who was not named, told the outlet.
Meanwhile, an unnamed police source told the outlet that the deceased had a criminal record and was indicted in the past for drug and illegal firearms possession.
בניגוד לטענת המשפחה המשטרה מפרסמת תיעוד של החשוד בניסיון הפיגוע בעיר לוד כאשר הוא מסתובב עם סכין בידו. pic.twitter.com/plLzYB2E9e
— ידידיה אפשטיין (@yedidya_epstien) July 1, 2026
Israel: A YASAM police officer in Lod was targeted in an attempted terror attack. The terrorist has been eliminated. pic.twitter.com/Q0USeCmeuZ
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) July 1, 2026
Last month, an Arab Israeli terrorist opened fire in several locations in a shooting spree in central Israel, killing an IDF reservist and wounding five people before he was shot dead by security forces.
Police also arrested a second man accused of involvement in the attack.
The Times of Israel Community.