Man dies of injuries sustained in Hadera terror stabbing
Rafael Mordechai Fishof was reportedly returning from a study session when attacker critically injured him; another of the five surviving victims remains in serious condition
A man who was gravely wounded Wednesday in a terrorist stabbing rampage in Hadera died Thursday.
He was named as Rafael Mordechai Fishof, 35, reported variously to be a father of six or eight children.
Fishof was hospitalized in the intensive care unit at the Hillel Yaffe Medical Center in the city after the attack but doctors were unable to save his life.
Born in Bnei Brak, Fishof came from a rabbinical family. His father was a rabbi and yeshiva leader. His maternal grandfather was also a rabbi and an educator, according to Hebrew media reports. A number of years ago Fishof survived a near-fatal road accident, reports said.
Fishof was returning from a study session when the terrorist attacked him, the Behadrei Haredim website reported.
The other five victims included another man in serious but stable condition, one in moderate condition, and three in good condition.
The alleged attacker used a moped to drive between four locations in the city, stabbing people at each place. He was identified by Hebrew-language media as an Arab Israeli resident of Umm al-Fahm.
The terrorist was apprehended by police with the help of armed citizens at the scene.
A video posted to social media showed the moment a number of armed members of the public surrounded the suspect on what appeared to be a main shopping street, their weapons drawn.
At least two warning shots were fired in the air before one man fired at the suspect as he reached into his coat. It wasn’t immediately clear if he was hit.
Armed police officers then arrived at the scene and pushed the suspect to the ground while shouting at the others not to shoot.
אירוע הדקירות בחדרה: עלה לחמישה מספר הפצועים, שניים מהם במצב קשה. המשטרה: ההערכה שמדובר בפיגוע עדיין נבדקת >>> https://t.co/yXb0HRvNFQ
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The attack came two days after the anniversary of Hamas’s October 7 mass onslaught against southern Israel, the worst terror attack in Israel’s history, and amid a wave of deadly attacks.
On Sunday, Sgt. Shira Suslik, 19, a Border Police officer, was killed by a gunman at the bus station in Beersheba. Ten other people were wounded in the attack.
Last week seven people were killed and at least eight were wounded in a shooting and stabbing attack in Jaffa, one of the deadliest terror attacks in Israel in recent years.