15-year-old Stabs Man in Northern Israel in Suspected Politically-motivated Attack

A 15-year-old girl stabbed a man in the northern Israel city of Haifa on Friday, in what the police suspect to be a politically-motivated attack.

The assailant's father, who works for the Haifa municipality, had called Israel Police to notify them that his daughter had intended to carry out a stabbing attack in Jerusalem on Friday morning. When the police arrived at their home to take testimony from the father, they received reports that a stabbing had taken place.

The girl, whose name is barred from publication due to her age, stabbed a 47-year-old man in the leg in Haifa's Hazikaron Park.

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The victim was evacuated to the intensive care unit at Rambam Health Care Campus in moderate condition, according to Magen David Adom. He was released from the hospital on Saturday morning.

The minor was apprehended by a police officer and then taken for interrogation at Israel's Shin Bet security services.

On Saturday, Haifa Magistrate's Court extended her detention until Wednesday. According to the police, her decision to carry out the attack was influenced by Friday's clashes in Jerusalem, during which Israeli forces entered Al-Aqsa Mosque.

In contrast to the police's position, her father told the court that "our children are your victims. I condemn what she did. She is a psychiatric case." Faris Barik, also said that she had a "history of emotional issues," and that the motive of her actions was still unclear.

According to Barik, who was appointed to the case as a public defender, the girl's father had been an informant for the Israeli defense establishment. Now, the father lives with his four children in Haifa. He is divorced from the children's' mother, who lives in Jerusalem. The father arrived in court for Saturday's hearing with his face covered and accompanied by a security guard.