It has been verified that Yossi Benayoun, a former player for Liverpool, Chelsea, and Arsenal, has survived a horrific grenade attack on his Israeli house. The 44-year-old, who won the Europa League at Stamford Bridge and played 194 times in the Premier League, was unharmed after the incident, which he attributes to misidentification.
A biker came up outside the house and tossed a device at the door, causing Benayoun and his family to be inside the residence at the time of the incident, according to a report from The Sun. As the culprit ran from the area, the device burst, starting a fire.
Benayoun Speaks Out After Grenade Attack
The former footballer believes he was wrongly targetted in a case of mistaken identity
First responders from the police and fire agencies raced to a house in Ramat Hasharon, just north of Tel Aviv, at 11 p.m. on Sunday. The fire was extinguished in no time.
Instead of considering the occurrence to be a terrorist act, authorities are considering it to be a possible criminal conduct. Shaken by the occurrence, Israel’s record goalscorer thinks he was mistaken for someone else:
“This is unquestionably an error; I’m positive the grenade wasn’t pointed towards my house. We phoned the fire brigade since I initially believed it to be a gas cylinder explosion. We didn’t know what had actually happened until the cops showed up at the residence and discovered the fragments of a grenade.
Speaking on the event, an Israeli police spokesperson said, “A complaint of an explosion heard outside a dwelling was sent to the police hotline. After arriving on the spot, officers from the Glilot station began their investigation. Although there was damage from the explosion, thankfully no one was hurt.
There have been no reports of any possible suspects being taken into custody.
Benayoun began his professional career in Israel with Hapoel Beer Sheva after spending time in the Ajax junior program. He later transferred to Maccabi Tel Aviv. After receiving his first international cap in 1998, he went on to make 102 appearances for his nation, scoring 24 goals. After that, he moved to Spain and joined Racing Santander before starting his English football career.
Benayoun joined West Ham in 2005 before moving to Liverpool in 2007. With periods at Chelsea, Arsenal, West Ham again, and QPR, his career progressed. After that, he went back to Israel, where he worked for three more years before retiring in 2019.
