An initial investigation revealed that on Thursday night, a Palestinian resident of the Ramallah area in his thirties arrived at the airport gate with a vehicle he had stolen from a Tel Aviv suburb

A Palestinian resident of the West Bank driving a stolen vehicle broke through the outer security barrier of Ben-Gurion International Airport – considered one of the most heavily guarded airports in the world – in the early hours of Thursday morning.

A security guard fired one shot at the vehicle, but the driver managed to escape in the vehicle. It was later discovered near a gas station inside the airport complex, close to the barrier. After a short search, the driver was apprehended by airport security guards and handed over to police.

The assailant was brought on Thursday to a court hearing and his detention will be extended until the 29th of September, the police spokesperson unit reported. At the hearing, the suspect's lawyer claimed that the driver "is a young man, and got confused by the security set up at the airport".

An Israel Airports Authority spokesperson said that the airport was operating normally and that overnight flights departed on time, but that there could be delays in takeoffs on Thursday morning.

An initial investigation by the director of the National Security Agency revealed that on Thursday night, around 1:15 A.M., a Palestinian resident of the Ramallah area in his thirties arrived at the airport gate with a vehicle he had stolen in Bat Yam, near Tel Aviv, and quickly broke through the checkpoint.

The security guards at the gate activated the stop barriers but the vehicle continued driving towards the northern gate, leading to the central city of Petah Tikva. At the same time, a security guard coming from the northern gate blocked it, the director explained.

The car driver tried to overtake the blocking vehicle and run over the security guard, before the guard fired and hit the vehicle. The vehicle was stopped and the driver escaped from the vehicle and in the scans done by the police and security forces he was captured while hiding in the bushes.

The CEO of Israel Airports Authority Hagi Topolansky praised the guards on Thursday morning for their professionalism and their operational skills.

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