TEL AVIV (JTA) — Four people were lightly wounded in a suspected terrorist attack on the Tel Aviv beachfront.
The attacks took place Sunday afternoon at the Leonardo Hotel and continued on the beach, a police officer at the scene told JTA. Police said the attacks appear to be politically motivated.
The alleged assailant, identified by police as an 18-year-old Palestinian, was captured and arrested.
“It’s more noise than anything else,” said the officer, one of many securing the hotel. “Thank God.”
Three of the injured are in their 50s and one is 70, Magen David Adom said. The rescue service said the wounds appeared to have been caused by a blunt object. Haaretz reported the attacker used work tools.
The victims were taken to Ichilov hospital in Tel Aviv. United Hatzalah told JTA they all seemed to be Israelis. Three were treated at the hotel and one at the beach, the emergency service said.
The attacker, from the Nablus area, was in Israel on a single-day pass as part of a group known as “Natural Peace Tours,” designed to bring Palestinians and Israelis together to form friendships, the Times of Israel reported, citing an unnamed defense official.
