Israeli police say one killed in train station knife attack

An elderly man has been killed and four other people have been wounded in what police say was a terrorist stabbing attack in the northern Israeli city of Haifa.

It happened at the HaMifratz Central train and bus station, and the attacker was shot dead at the scene by security guards, police said.

The victim who died was aged around 70, the Magen David Adom ambulance service said. A 15-year-old boy and a man and a woman in their 30s were in a serious condition, while a 70-year-old woman was moderate hurt, it added.

The police said the attacker was an Israeli Druze man from the town of Shfaram who had recently returned from abroad. Such an attack by a member of Israel’s Druze community is rare.

The Druze are an ethnic and religious group whose faith is an offshoot of Shia Islam. About 150,000 live in Israel and the occupied Golan Heights, comprising about 1.5% of the population.

A witness told Israel’s Walla news website that the attacker travelled to Haifa on a bus from Shfaram, which is about 10km (6 miles) east of Haifa.

He began stabbing passengers when the bus arrived at the station, then got off and attacked others on the concourse, the witness said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “My wife Sara and I send our deepest condolences to the family of the man who was murdered in the shocking terrorist attack in Haifa.

“We will continue to fight everywhere against those who seek to murder us and we will defeat them.”

There was no immediate claim from any armed groups, but Hamas described the attack as “heroic” and a “natural response” to what it called Israeli crimes against Palestinians.

It comes amid deadlock between Hamas and Israel over moving forward with the six-week-old Gaza ceasefire deal.

Israel stopped aid from entering Gaza after Hamas rejected what Netanyahu’s office said was a US proposal for an extension to the first phase, which ended on Saturday night.

Hamas accused Israel of reneging on the deal and said the second phase should go ahead as agreed.