Islamic State claims responsibility for attack that killed 4 in Israel

Two men of Arab origin killed two Israeli police officers in a shooting on Sunday (27), in the streets of Hadera, Israel. The gunmen were killed in the aftermath and at least people were injured.

The Islamic State terrorist group later claimed responsibility for the action in a statement posted on its Telegram account. Local security officials had earlier said the gunmen were Arab-Israeli citizens and IS sympathizers.

The attack comes five days after another attack in Beersheba, in the south of the country. On that occasion, a citizen of Bedouin origin killed four people – one by being run over and three with stab wounds – before being killed by an armed civilian. The episode, one of the deadliest of its kind in recent years in the country, was the third against Jewish citizens in less than a week.

The attack on Sunday was condemned by Israeli authorities, who organized a summit considered historic in Sde Boker, in the Negev desert. Foreign Minister Yair Lapid received diplomatic representatives from the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Bahrain and Morocco, sealing the resumption of relations between Israel and Arab nations.

“All those present condemned the attack and sent their condolences to the families of the victims and their wishes for recovery for the injured,” said Lapid.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who attended the summit, also expressed his rejection of what he called a terrorist attack. “Acts of senseless violence and murder like this should have no place in society.”

Hadera is 50 kilometers north of Tel Aviv, which in turn is 150 kilometers from Sde Boker.

Security camera footage broadcast by Israeli channels showed two men firing automatic weapons in the street. According to Reuters, two paramilitary members of the border police were killed. Subsequently, two members of the anti-terrorist unit who were in a restaurant near the attack managed to reach the scene and killed the attackers.

Police spokesman Eli Levy told a TV station that the police action prevented an even bigger terrorist attack.

Shortly after the attack, Israeli security forces carried out operations in areas of Umm al-Fahm, an Arab city about 20 kilometers from Hadera, according to the AFP news agency.

In different statements, the armed Palestinian Islamist movements of Hamas and Islamic Jihad applauded what they called the “heroic operation of Hadera”.

Defense Minister Benny Gantz met with police and army chiefs in the afternoon, while Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who had met hours earlier in Jerusalem with Antony Blinken, went to Hadera.

This wave of recent attacks has heightened fears of violence in April — when the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the Jewish holidays of Passover and the Christian Easter coincide. Ramadan-related tensions, for example, sparked conflict in the Gaza Strip in May last year.