A terrorist attack involving at least two Palestinian suspects resulted in the death of a 79-year-old woman and injured 17 other people, including a Brazilian, who was run over during acts of extremism, in the city of Ra'anana, metropolitan region of Israel. The criminals carried out attacks with knives and vehicles, used to run over civilians.
The terrorists were identified as Mahmoud Zidat, aged 44, resident of the city of Hebron, in the West Bank, and Ahmed Zidat, aged 25, identified by authorities as a relative of the first person involved. According to the Israeli press, he was in the car with Zidat during the attack, and later fled the scene, before being detained.
According to preliminary investigations by the police, the first suspect stabbed a woman during the theft of her vehicle and took control of the car to start running over the city. He ran over several people on Ahuza Street, one of the main streets in the small city, with approximately 80,000 inhabitants. The suspect lost control of the car, left the vehicle and entered another to continue his terrorist actions, now on Haroshet Street.
In one of the acts, Zidat hit a bus stop, where three Brazilians were. One of them was run over and had to undergo surgery on his arm, according to an acquaintance of the family who lives in Ra'anana, Brazilian businessman Nilton Migdal. “A friend of my son was run over by one of the terrorists and broke his arm, requiring “alignment” surgery. He is fine, his arm was in a cast, he had some X-rays and it looks like the doctors are waiting to decide what will happen the operation,” he said.
The victim's family was contacted, but there is still no updated information on the Brazilian's health status.
According to Nilton, the city has already returned to normal after the terrorists were neutralized. This was the first record of an attack of this size in the city, located just over 20 kilometers from Tel Aviv, since the beginning of the war.
The businessman reports on the first moments of terror amid the attacks on the main streets of Ra'anana. “I had just returned home, after taking security equipment and donations for soldiers, in a Brazilian community that I am part of here, when my wife told me about strange movements in the city. We turned on the television and saw three or four attacks at the same time happening in Ra'anana. We started calling relatives and friends, asking if they were safe. It's a very peaceful city, with 80 thousand inhabitants, everyone knows each other, it really was a commotion”, he said.
The violent acts began around 1:30 pm (local time in Israel, 8:30 am in Brazil), according to Nilton. “Time when children are leaving school. The two kidnapped a woman, stole her car, stabbed and ran over other victims, including a 16-year-old boy, who is among the victims in serious condition. Afterwards, the two separated , one of them was caught in front of a school and the other tried to escape, but was also detained”, he stated.
During the attacks, the municipal government and the police instructed the population not to leave their homes, however, according to the businessman, 24 hours after the incident, “life continues with some tranquility” in the city. “After the arrests, my daughter has already gone to school today, there are more police officers on the streets, armed soldiers who have been active since the beginning of the war, which helps to bring more security to Ra'anana and other cities in Israel, the neutralization of criminals It's much more agile. Unfortunately, we're used to these situations,” he said.
According to the businessman, this was the first time that a case of this type had occurred in the city, since he arrived with his family, eight years ago. “At the time I arrived, a wave of knife attacks began, this year there were already three records, since then there has been no other like it, the city is peaceful. We are used to seeing more attacks in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.”
Nilton is part of a Brazilian community in Ra'anana that has contributed to raising donations for soldiers involved in the war against Hamas. “We started the campaign days after the start of the war and it took on new proportions. We asked for donations from the Brazilian government, from Jewish communities, we began to assist several soldiers and people displaced by the conflict, totaling more than 300 thousand”, he said. .
The city of Ra'anana is home to many Brazilians, who moved to Israel mainly during the Dilma government. According to Nilton, a group created a local Brazilian community that gave rise to a synagogue, to which he belongs.
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