US Resident of Moroccan Origin Behind Tel Aviv Attack, Officials Say

Doha – A stabbing attack in central Tel Aviv on Tuesday evening left four Israelis injured, with the assailant – identified as Abdelaziz Kaddi, a Moroccan-born US permanent resident – being fatally shot at the scene, according to Israeli authorities.

Kaddi, 29, who was born in Morocco in June of 1995, had entered Israel on a tourist visa three days before the incident and was scheduled to depart in four days, border control documents revealed.

The man held a US DV1 “diversity visa” – one of 50,000 such visas granted annually by the United States to applicants from countries with low immigration rates.

The attack occurred in Tel Aviv’s Nahalat Binyamin area, with incidents reported at two locations – Nahalat Binyamin and Kalisher streets.

According to Magen David Adom, Israel’s emergency medical service, two victims sustained moderate stab wounds while two others suffered minor injuries.

“My husband and I were at a restaurant on Nahalat Binyamin when we suddenly heard gunshots. People were lying on the ground, and glass was shattering everywhere,” a witness told Israeli Channel 1.

Police spokesperson Aryeh Doron urged residents to avoid the area as authorities conducted searches for possible accomplices. Additionally, Israeli media reported that an off-duty police officer shot and “neutralized” the attacker.

Hamas later issued a statement calling Kaddi a “hero” and describing him as a “martyr” following his death at the scene.

The group characterized the attack as a “heroic stabbing operation” and stated it was “a natural response” to Israeli military operations in Jenin.

The statement described the incident as “evidence that resistance continues to escalate as long as occupation and its crimes continue.”

The incident occurred just hours after the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) announced a “significant operation” that is being carried out in Jenin, killing at least 10 Palestinians and wounding dozens of others.

Illegal Israeli settlers have also carried out a series of attacks and acts of aggression against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, and the IOF have arrested dozens in raids on the communities.

All of this violence on behalf of the IOF and illegal Israeli settlers comes just two days after a ceasefire agreement took effect in Gaza, ending the 15-month genocide that Netanyahu orchestrated against the Palestinian people.

The incident today also followed a similar stabbing attack in southern Tel Aviv on Saturday, where a Palestinian man from Tulkarm wounded an Israeli citizen before being fatally shot.