The terrorist who carried out the stabbing attack in Tel Aviv this evening (Tuesday), in which four people were moderately and lightly injured, is Qadi Abdel Aziz, 29, born in Morocco, who entered Israel as a tourist.
An American green card was found on his body. According to the border control card found on his body, he entered Israel through Ben Gurion Airport just three days ago, after arriving on a connection via Poland.
Interior Minister Moshe Arbel revealed this evening that the Population and Immigration Authority border controllers sought to prevent the terrorist from entering Israel. This was after he appeared confused when questioned by border controllers upon his arrival at Ben Gurion Airport and gave contradictory answers, and when they asked him to provide permits for a hotel or to stay with relatives, he did not have any. Therefore, his entry was denied and suspicion arose regarding his motives.
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The controllers took him for questioning by security officials - who approved his entry.
Arbel called on Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar to "investigate the serious incident and draw lessons from it as soon as possible.".
Interior Minister Moshe Arbel: "I commend and appreciate the border controllers of the Population and Immigration Authority who identified in real time and sought to prevent the entry into Israel of the terrorist from the attack in Tel Aviv upon his arrival at Ben Gurion Airport on January 18, 2025, and transferred him for questioning to security officials who, unfortunately, decided to allow his entry into Israel. I call on Shin Bet head Ronen Bar to investigate the serious incident and draw lessons from it as soon as possible.".
An investigation shows that the terrorist won the Green Card lottery - a lottery for 50,000 visas held each year - and immigrated from Morocco to the United States in 2022. In posts he published on Facebook, he encouraged his friends to enter the lottery.
According to the data, he flew from Morocco on a flight from Casablanca to New York in 2022. He previously lived in Zagora in southeastern Morocco, and from the moment he arrived in the US he lived in Brooklyn.
He shared videos and posts supporting the Gaza Strip.
In February 2024, the terrorist shared a post on Facebook under the title: "Hunger in northern Gaza. Half a million people waiting to die.".
Shin Bet response:
"When the subject entered Israel, he underwent a security assessment that included his interrogation as well as additional tests, at the end of which it was decided that there was no data that established grounds to prevent his entry into Israel for security reasons. The case will be investigated.".
