Hamas claims Tel Aviv shooting attack that killed seven
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Volunteers from the Zaka Israeli ultra-Orthodox Jewish emergency response team moving a body as others sweep the scene of a shooting attack, in Jaffa, south of Tel Aviv, on Oct 1.
PHOTO: AFP
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JERUSALEM - Hamas’ armed wing claimed responsibility on Oct 2 for the killing of seven people in a shooting and stabbing attac
The attack - one of the deadliest in the country since the Oct 7 Hamas onslaught - came as Iran fired about 200 missiles at Israel,
“The Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades takes responsibility for the heroic Jaffa operation carried out by the fighters from the (occupied West Bank) city of Hebron,” the group said in a statement, referring to the attack near the Tel Aviv light rail station in Jaffa on Oct 1.
“The attack coincided with the painful strikes in the heart of the entity (Israel)... executed by Iran,” it said, referring to the Oct 1 evening missile barrage.
The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades named the attackers as Mohammed Misk and Ahmed al-Haimoni, who managed to “infiltrate into our occupied lands”.
Israel and Hamas have been at war in Gaza since Oct 7 when the Palestinian militant group carried out its attack on Israel
Israel’s retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 41,689 people in Gaza,
Earlier on Oct 2, Israeli police said seven people had been killed in the Jaffa attack, with one of the victims succumbing to his wounds overnight.
On Oct 1, Israeli police said 17 others had been wounded.
Foreigners among dead
Police said the alleged assailants “began their killing spree when they entered the carriage of the light rail train that stopped at the station and fired at passengers”.
They were armed with an assault rifle and a knife, and continued on foot until police “neutralised” them, it added.
One of the attackers was shot dead and the other was seriously wounded, police added.
Police officers working at the site of the shooting attack, in Jaffa, Israel, on Oct 1.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Overnight, the Israeli security agency and the army arrested several suspects in Hebron and Jerusalem believed to have aided the suspects.
Israeli media identified three of the dead as Israelis and one as Georgian. The others were Greek and Moldovan, their governments said.
The identity of the seventh victim has not been released.
Palestinian militants have carried out several attacks on Israelis since Oct 7, killing at least 23, according to Israeli official figures.
Violence in the West Bank has also surged. Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 682 people in raids or attacks in the territory since Oct 7, according to Palestinian health ministry figures.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967, and its troops regularly make incursions into Palestinian towns and cities, which often result in heavy clashes. AFP
