Palestinians make their way in a devasted neighborhood, amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, in Gaza City.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Tel Aviv:

Israeli police said that an assailant stabbed and seriously wounded a person in the centre of commercial hub Tel Aviv on Saturday, before being shot and “neutralised” by a civilian.

The attack came hours before a ceasefire is set to take effect in the Gaza Strip, where Israel has been fighting Palestinian militant group Hamas for more than 15 months.

The police had initially spoken of a shooting with several wounded but clarified in a later statement that the “terrorist” was armed only with a knife. 

Israeli police use the term “terrorist” to refer to Palestinians who carry out attacks for political motives.

“Initial investigations reveal that a terrorist armed with a knife arrived at the restaurant area on Levontin Street and stabbed a civilian,” the later statement said.

“An armed civilian nearby shot and neutralised” the attacker.

Police said the stabbing victim was taken to hospital with serious wounds.

Emergency service provider Magen David Adom said its staff were providing medical treatment to a 30-year-old male “injured from stabbing” in the 4:30 pm (1430 GMT) attack.

It said he was taken to hospital in a conscious state.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Palestinians inspect the damage at a tent area in the courtyard of Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital, hit by an Israeli bombardment on Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

Hamas’s lead negotiator on Thursday (September 5, 2024) urged the United States to press Israel for a truce in Gaza, accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of blocking a ceasefire in the Palestinian territory.

“If the U.S. administration and its President [Joe] Biden really want to reach a ceasefire and complete a prisoner exchange deal, they must abandon their blind bias towards the Zionist occupation and exert real pressure on Netanyahu and his government,” Qatar-based Khalil al-Hayya said in a video statement.

Months of back-and-forth talks mediated by Washington, Doha and Cairo have thus far failed to bring an end to the conflict in Gaza and secure a hostage and prisoner exchange.

Hamas and Israel have traded blame for the stalled talks, as pressure for a deal intensified after Israeli authorities announced on Sunday the deaths of six hostages whose bodies were recovered from a Gaza tunnel.

Mr. Netanyahu said the militant group had “rejected everything” in the indirect talks, saying on Wednesday Israel was “trying to find some area to begin the negotiations”.

“They [Hamas] refuse to do that… [They said] there’s nothing to talk about,” he added.

Mr. Netanyahu’s insistence on keeping control of the so-called Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt has emerged as a recent sticking point.

Mr. Hayya on Thursday accused the Israeli premier of seeking to “evade the obligation to reach a ceasefire agreement”.

Israel signalled openness on Sunday to allowing the return of Palestinians displaced from the northern Gaza Strip as part of truce talks, an apparent accommodation of a core Hamas demand.

The warring sides have stepped up negotiations, mediated by Qatar and Egypt, on a six-week suspension of Israel’s offensive in return for the proposed release of 40 of the 130 hostages still held by the Palestinian Hamas group in Gaza.

Hamas has sought to parlay any deal into an end to the fighting and withdrawal of Israeli forces. Israel has ruled this out, saying it would eventually resume efforts to dismantle the governance and military capabilities of Hamas.

Hamas also wants hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who fled Gaza City and surrounding areas southward during the first stage of the almost six-month-old war to be allowed back north.

Israel initially refused to do so. But that position has softened, an Israeli official briefed on the Doha talks said.

“We are now willing to discuss a return of some of the displaced,” the official told Reuters, without elaborating on numbers. Israeli media have speculated that the offer would be limited to women and children, to bar gunmen trying to reinforce those the Israeli military is still battling in parts of Gaza City.

The official, who requested anonymity, said Israel has also agreed in principle to release between 700 and 800 Palestinian prisoners in return for the 40 hostages.

That appeared to meet a demand of a Hamas proposal, reported by Reuters on March 15, for between 700 and 1,000 prisoners to be released.

The Israeli official cautioned, however, that any final decision would hinge on how many of the prisoners were senior militants serving long sentences for lethal attacks.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)