The death of 26-year-old Ionas Karousis, one of seven people killed by two terrorists near a Tel Aviv (Jaffa area) light rail station on Tuesday evening, brought the Mideast conflict closer to Greece this week with the loss of one of its citizens.
Ionas had reportedly just gone shopping shortly before he fell dead in the terrorist attack, attributed to two Palestinians from the West Bank and coinciding with Iran’s missile attack against Israel.
Speaking on Mega Channel’s Live News current affairs program, the victim’s father, distinguished neurology professor Dimitris Karousis emotionally recounted his son’s last day.
“He was there to do an architecture project, as he was studying in his final year, to map various metro stations in Tel Aviv and was shot… In the evening we had no contact with him and had to search for him. He had no battery in his cell phone and at 12 (midnight) the army and police came over here to notify us.
“He had just got a job and was supposed to start next week. He had a new house, a girlfriend from Greece – everything was destroyed,” Dr. Karousis said, while adding:
“The madness of this war. People need to learn that this madness must stop; they’re crazy on both side. One with the Quran and the other with the Old Testament. This is the situation. How can there be peace with these two?
Seven people were killed and 16 others wounded in the attack on the Tel Aviv light rail and a nearby road in Jaffa, in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Israel proper in recent memory. Authorities on Wednesday named six of the seven people killed during the attack, as new details emerged on the two terrorists who carried it out.
The following segment was aired (in Greek) by Athens-based Mega Channel on Wednesday, showing scenes from Ionas Karousis’ last vacation in northern Greece.
The shooting was carried out by two men, whom Israeli authorities identified as Muhammad Chalaf Sahar Rajab and Hassan Muhammad Hassan Tamimi, according to the Jerusalem Post. The men exited the rail station and opened fire on Jerusalem Street in the city. One was armed with a rifled, while the other had a knife, according to reports.
International media reports had the attackers fleeing on foot and then fatally shot by security forces and civilians using their personal weapons. The two gunmen were identified as Palestinian residents from the southern West Bank city of Hebron.
Police said Rajab and Tamimi had no prior arrests, according to AP.
In addition to the seven killed, at least eight others, including an infant, were wounded in the shooting, according to Israeli police.
