Israeli Man Dies in Petah Tikva Stabbing Attack

JERUSALEM, Israel - Around 200 friends and family members gathered early Thursday to mourn the death of Rabbi Shai Ohayon, 39, who died Wednesday afternoon after a stabbing attack in the central Israeli city of Petah Tikva. Police identified a Palestinian man named Khalil Abd al-Khaliq Dweikat,46, as the suspect in the attack. 

Dweikat was arrested at the scene of the incident and police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld confirmed it was a terror attack. Police found a bloody knife on Dweikat at the time of his arrest. 

Israeli paramedics found Ohayon critically wounded and without a pulse at a bus stop at the Segulah Junction. He was transferred to the Belinson Medical Center where he died of his injuries.

"I arrived at the scene after the stabbing when I saw a citizen chasing the stabber," Kobi Fuchs, a Petah Tikva resident, told Maariv, The Jerusalem Post's sister paper. "The citizen shouted 'terrorist' and knocked him down. The stabber didn't manage to run far. The police came and arrested him."

Dweikat, a father of six, had a work permit and was legally allowed to be in Israel, Israeli authorities said. The Israeli military raided Dweikat's home in the northern West Bank village of Rujeeb and began plans to demolish his home. 

Dweikat did not have a history of terrorism and it is highly unusual for Palestinians with work permits in Israel to perpetrate terror attacks. They must undergo intense background checks before being allowed in Israel.

Most Palestinian attackers are also in their teens or 20s.

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