Shin Bet says stabbing last week may have been terror, not fight

A stabbing last week in the central town of Rosh Ha’ayin, in which an Israeli man was seriously injured, is suspected of being a terror attack, not the result of a scuffle, as it was initially described, the Shin Bet security service says, after a gag order on the case is lifted.

The Israeli man visited a construction site where he reportedly owned an apartment that was being built last Saturday afternoon. Inside, he was stabbed multiple times, but managed to get outside the street where he collapsed. A short while later he was found by a passerby who called an ambulance. He was taken to Petah Tikva’s Beilinson Medical Center in serious condition, police said at the time.

The suspect, who initially fled the scene, was arrested last Thursday in his hometown of Jenin, the security service says.

Initial reports about the stabbing indicated that it occurred during a fight of some kind. Later that day, police requested and received a court-issued gag order on the case.

— Judah Ari Gross