Three Israelis were shot and wounded by a Palestinian terrorist while sitting in a cafe in downtown Tel Aviv on Thursday night.
Two of the victims remained in critical condition on Friday morning. The third was listed as being in moderate condition.
The terrorist, identified as Mutaz Salah al-Khawaja from the Palestinian town of Ni’lin, was shot and killed by security forces at the scene. He was known to the police as having affiliations with the Hamas terror group and had previously served time in an Israeli prison twice for owning and using illegal weapons.
Hamas released a statement calling the attack a “a natural response to the crimes committed by the Israeli occupation forces in the West Bank and Jenin.”
Al-Khawaja recorded a video hours before Thursday’s attack, calling for jihad and saying that he wished to die as a martyr.
On Friday morning, the terrorist’s father was arrested. IDF soldiers mapped al-Khawaja’s home ahead of its expected demolition, a policy Israel says deters attacks.
