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Palestinian kills Israeli in bus stabbing rampage

A Palestinian assailant on Sunday went on a stabbing rampage on board a minibus in central Israel, killing one woman and wounding four others.
/ Source: The Associated Press

A Palestinian assailant on Sunday went on a stabbing rampage on board a minibus in central Israel, killing one woman and wounding four others, in what police said was a politically motivated attack.

Witnesses said the vehicle was traveling in the central Israeli city of Petach Tikva when the attacker stood up and began stabbing passengers.

"He jumped on people and started to stab them," said one witness, who gave only his first name Benny. "Police ran after him and caught him ... There are lots of blood stains on the road."

Other witnesses said an angry crowd subdued the man on board the yellow bus before police took him away. "They pummeled him. It was a great mess," a witness, identified as Moshe, told Israel Army Radio.

Police said one woman was killed. Israel's national rescue service said four others were wounded, three of them women, and all were in moderate to serious condition.

Police said the attack was politically motivated, but gave no further details. They said the attacker came from the West Bank, but it was unclear how the man had entered Israel.

Tensions between Israel and the Palestinians have risen in recent days after Israel killed a top commander of the Islamic Jihad militant group.