Three Israelis, a 40 year-old man and two women were injured in a stabbing attack in Ranana on Saturday afternoon. Tragedy was narrowly averted as the attacker was prevented from entering an apartment and a synagogue full of people praying.

The Arab terrorist unsuccessfully attempted to enter a ground floor apartment through a window but was confronted by a 46 year old mother whose ten year old son was in the apartment. She screamed and managed to push the terrorist back out the window.

The terrorist went out to the street where he stabbed a man in the stomach, injuring him seriously. He then stabbed a woman as he tried to enter a nearby synagogue that was full of Jews praying. They succeeded in locking the doors to prevent him from entering. He fled the scene, stabbing another woman nearby.

He was confronted in the courtyard of a house by Israeli police soon after the attack, and they arrested him after he dropped the knife. The 20 year old Arab terrorist, Mahmoud Faisal Basharat, is from the village Tamun near Jenin. Police are still searching for an accomplice who allegedly drove the terrorist to the scene of the attack.

This is the third terror attack in Ranana since the recent wave of terror began. In October, an Israeli Arab stabbed a Jew at a bus stop, lightly wounding him. Later in the same day, an Arab terrorist stabbed four people, injuring one seriously.

Another tragedy was averted Saturday night when IDF Border Patrols set up a road block near Neve Tzuf in the Binyamin region and discovered a loaded Kalashnikov automatic weapon in an Arab man’s car.