A Palestinian man injured at least eight people in a car-ramming and knife attack near a shopping center in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, before he was shot dead by a civilian. The attack coincides with Israel's largest raid into Jenin in two decades.
Israel’s Shin Bet security agency identified the attacker as 20-year-old Palestinian Abd al-Wahab Khalaila, whom Hamas — the Palestinian group ruling the Gaza Strip — claimed as its member. Though Hamas praised the attack, they didn't take direct responsibility for it.
The death of any civilian is a terribly tragic occurrence, but it is simply impossible to separate the attack in Tel Aviv from Israel's brutal invasion of Jenin. Palestinians are treated as colonial subjects, yet when they fight back against one of the world's most advanced armies, they are labelled terrorists. Israel must end the occupation if it wants to solve the root causes of attacks like this.
Israeli society must continue to prepare for and defend itself from Palestinian terror attacks by rooting out Palestinian militants, wherever they may hide. Though the media tend to misrepresent the facts, Israel's operation in Jenin is strictly a surgical move to eliminate Palestinian terrorists who threaten Israeli civilians. There is no comparison between Israeli forces, who strive for peace, and Palestinian terrorists, who fight for a never-ending conflict.