Man charged with attempted murder for Kibbutz Tzuba stabbing attack

A Palestinian resident of East Jerusalem accused of carrying out a stabbing attack in Kibbutz Tzuba earlier this month is indicted on one count of attempted murder as an act of terrorism.

According to the indictment filed to the Jerusalem District Court, Muhammed Hassan, a 42-year old resident of the Shuafat neighborhood, had worked as a dishwasher in the kibbutz canteen for several months.

On September 12, Hassan left the kitchen of the kibbutz canteen where he was working, made his way to the kitchen of the hotel located on the kibbutz, grabbed a sharpened 12-centimeter knife, entered the hotel dining room, and stabbed two of the diners in the chest before being stopped and apprehended by a hotel worker.

One of his victims, a 50-year old man, was severely wounded and needed several operations to repair damage to one of his lungs, while the other victim, a 23-year old man, suffered moderate wounds.

The indictment alleges that Hassan carried out the attack out of ideological and nationalistic motivations with an intent to murder his victims.

According to police, the suspected assailant told investigators that he stabbed his victims “because they were Jews, and because I wanted to be shot afterward,” a statement confirmed by the State Attorney’s Office.