Objects were placed on the train tracks between Akko and Karmiel in northern Israel in an attempt to cause the first train ride after Rosh Hashanah to derail.

The obstacles were found on the train tracks on Monday. An Israeli Arab suspected of committing the act was detained by the police later that day. However, he was released a day later when it became clear that he was not involved in the attempted attack.

Israeli security forces are carrying out searches for the culprit. A gag order was imposed on the details of the investigation at the request of the police.

Former senior police officer Shachar Ayalon, who also served as the Fire and Rescue Commissioner and the CEO of Israel Railways, told Walla that “an attempt to damage the train is a very serious incident and accordingly the law treats it very severely.”

“It must be remembered that there are hundreds of passengers on the train at any given moment, and any safety or security incident could turn into a mass disaster in one moment. There is also a built-in issue of rescuing potential victims due to significant challenges in accessing the tracks.”

Ayalon added that this isn’t the first time that a terrorist attempted to derail a train. “These attempts were discovered by the railway’s security unit, a unit that specializes in track security, constantly patrols the tracks and periodically finds objects of a similar type to the one found in this incident.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)