A bus driver was assaulted in Afula on Monday night by a 17-year-old who beat him using his cellular phone, Israeli media reported Tuesday morning.
The driver was transferred to a medical center in Afula suffering severe lacerations to his face, Maariv reported. A teen suspected of carrying out the attack was arrested by the police several hours later.
Allegedly, the incident broke out after the driver asked the teen to put on a face mask, as per COVID-19 Health Ministry regulations.
"The day a bus driver will be murdered on the road is closer than ever," the official organization of bus drivers in Israel, under the Histadrut Labor Union, said in response to the event.
Over 3,000 cases of aggression against bus drivers were reported in 2020, according to the organization, though they believe the number is far higher as most incidents go unreported.