JERUSALEM, Israel -- An elite unit of prison service officers apprehended a 23-year-old resident of Tulkarem, an Arab city under Palestinian Authority control, who injured 17 people in a stabbing spree on a Tel Aviv bus Wednesday morning.
The officers chased the terrorist as he fled on foot, stopping him with a gunshot wound to the leg. He was later identified by the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) as Hamza Mohammed Hassan Matrouk.
"We've heightened security in and around Tel Aviv and we are still searching to make sure there are no further terrorists in and around the area," Israel Police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said.
Paramedics transported the injured to three different area hospitals. Four remain in serious condition and four in moderate condition. Israel's Channel 2 reported that 80 units of blood were needed for the injured.
The terrorist reportedly stabbed the driver first to prevent him from opening the doors to allow passengers to escape. The Dan bus company issued a statement praising the driver's "resourcefulness, bravery and heroism," saying he tried to protect passengers even after sustaining a deep stab wound that penetrated his liver.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed P.A. Chairman Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) for these attacks.
"The terrorist attack in Tel Aviv is the direct result of the poisonous incitement being disseminated by the Palestinian Authority against the Jews and their state. This same terrorism is trying to attack us in Paris, Brussels and everywhere," Netanyahu said, pointing out that Hamas, the Palestinian faction ruling the Gaza Strip, quickly praised the attack.
"It is Hamas -- Abu Mazen's partners in a unity government -- that hastened to commend this attack. This is the same Hamas that announced it will sue Israel at the International Criminal Court in The Hague," he said. "Abu Mazen is responsible for both the incitement and the dangerous move at the ICC in The Hague."
Hamas officials called it "a brave and heroic act" against "Zionists" in Tel Aviv and a response to Israel's "crimes."
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