A man was stabbed in the neck in the Central Bus Station at Afula, in northern Israel, Wednesday. The attack apparently took place inside a bus.

According to initial reports, the victim is a soldier and is in critical condition.

The attacker has been identified as an Arab aged 16 from the Palestinian Authority city of Jenin, who is reportedly staying illegally in Israel. Nationalistic terrorist motives are suspected. He reportedly attacked the soldier at about 8:45 a.m., and stabbed him repeatedly. Civilians who were present at the scene neutralized him and stopped the attack at a certain point.

The soldier received initial medical care on the spot and was taken to Haemek Hospital in very serious condition.

An eyewitness named Tal told IDF Radio that she was walking past the bus when people began shouting “terrorist!” and a large commotion ensued. “The terrorist tried to run away but the police managed to catch him,” she added.

Another eyewitness told Maariv that the soldier, who is about 18, got on the bus at Nazareth, together with the terrorist. The soldier fell asleep on the way to Afula and at a certain point, the Arab began stabbing him over and over again, until other passengers grabbed hold of him and alerted security forces.

IDF Radio said that the attacker confessed that he left his home and got on the bus at Nazareth, with the intent of stabbing civilians, supposedly as revenge for the fact that his uncles are being held in Israeli jails.