Israeli Hero Murdered in Tel Aviv Attack, ‘Blocked Terrorist with His Body’

Security guard Chen Amir, 42, is survived by his wife and three daughters.

By JNS

An Israeli man was killed on Saturday evening in a Palestinian terror attack in the heart of Tel Aviv.

The incident began when two municipal patrol officers attempted to question a suspicious individual at the corner of Montefiore and Allenby streets. He ignored their overtures, drew a handgun and opened fire on them, hitting one, identified as Chen Amir, 42.

The second guard then chased after the terrorist, shooting and killing him.

Amir was evacuated to nearby Ichilov Hospital in critical condition, where he was later pronounced dead. He is survived by his wife and three daughters. Ichilov said that his organs would be donated.

The terrorist was identified as Kamel Abu Bakr, 22, from Rummanah, near Jenin in northern Samaria. According to the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet), Abu Bakr was a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist group, and had been hiding in the Jenin refugee camp for the past six months.

At the time of his death, he was in possession of a “martyrdom” letter. Security services were investigating whether he had accomplices and how he had entered Israel proper without an entry permit.

PIJ praised the attack, calling it a “natural response to the daily killings carried out by the occupation against our people in the West Bank and the plans against the Al-Aqsa mosque” and warning of “additional resistance actions.”

Israeli forces entered Rummanah on Sunday morning to measure the terrorist’s home for potential demolition.

Hanan Peretz, the head of the inspector’s unit of the Tel Aviv municipality, said on Sunday that Amir had “blocked the terrorist with his body,” describing how the two security guards prevented a larger attack.

“Hen was first, followed by Oz, who would ultimately neutralize the terrorist. He came right up with his motorcycle to block [the terrorist’s] path towards Allenby and he didn’t have time to get off before he was shot. Then Oz, who kept his composure, strove for contact and ended the incident,” Peretz told 103FM.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commended the Israeli officers “for their alertness and for engaging [the terrorist], thereby thwarting a much more serious attack,” adding, “Our security forces will settle accounts with everyone who seeks to attack us.”

Last month, a Palestinian terrorist drove his car into pedestrians at a bus stop on Pinchas Rosen Street in Tel Aviv’s northeastern Ramat Hahayal neighborhood.

He then got out of the vehicle and stabbed passersby with a sharp object. He wounded seven people in total before being shot by an Israeli civilian.

Days earlier, a 14-year-old Palestinian stabbed an Israeli man in Bnei Brak. The victim was evacuated in moderate condition to Maayanei Hayeshua Medical Center in the city, which is located east of Tel Aviv.

The terrorist was arrested at the scene.

On March 20, Or Eshkar, 32, died of a bullet wound sustained 11 days earlier during a terrorist attack in Tel Aviv.

Eshkar was mortally wounded when a Hamas member from Ni’lin in Samaria opened fire outside a cafe on the corner of Dizengoff and Ben-Gurion streets in the city center.

The terrorist also shot Rotem Mansano, 34, and Michael Osdon, 36.

The three Israeli friends were on their way to a wedding when they were attacked. The terrorist fled the scene after the shooting, while firing at other people, before being killed in a shootout with police officers.

Since the beginning of 2023, Palestinian terrorists have killed 26 Israelis.