Men suddenly opened fire on police officers in the street. The attackers were killed shortly afterwards by special forces. Six suspects were arrested.
After the deadly attack in the Israeli coastal town of Hadera, police arrested six suspects in the northern Arab town of Umm al-Fahm, according to the radio. The two killers are cousins, local Israeli Arabs, the radio reported on Monday. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett described the two as supporters of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist organization.
The attack overshadows a summit between Israel and four Arab states and US participation. The foreign ministers of Egypt, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Morocco meet on Monday with their counterpart Yair Lapid and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in southern Israel.
According to the radio, the dead in Hadera are two 19-year-old border police officers. The four wounded are also security forces.
In a statement, IS described the attackers in both attacks as members. The Palestinian Islamist organization Hamas in the Gaza Strip and pro-Iranian Hezbollah in Lebanon praised the latest attack.
Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz announced Sunday that security forces would be reinforced. According to the radio, police will put up roadblocks on major traffic arteries on Monday. The army therefore ordered a reinforcement of troops in the occupied West Bank.
Negev Summit starts on Monday
The foreign ministers of Egypt, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Morocco meet with their Israeli counterpart Yair Lapid and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in southern Israel on Monday. Representatives from the four Arab countries had already arrived on Sunday and were solemnly received.
Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said he had “informed” participants at the Negev summit. “All foreign ministers condemned the attack and sent their condolences to the families of the victims,” Lapid said. Blinken said on Twitter: “Such senseless acts of violence and murder have no place in society.”
The radical Palestinian movements Hamas and Islamic Jihad hailed “Hadera’s heroic deed” but did not accept responsibility for it. Israeli Arab politicians condemned the attack by the two suspects, who were also said to be Israeli Arabs.
Four people die in attack in Beersheva
On Tuesday alone, four people were killed in a terrorist attack in Beersheva, southern Israel, two men and two women. The assassin, a Bedouin from the Negev desert, was shot dead by bystanders. It was one of the deadliest attacks with Israeli casualties in recent years. In early 2017, a Palestinian drove his truck into a group of young soldiers in Jerusalem, killing four of them.
In the West Bank and the Arab-influenced eastern part of Jerusalem, there have been increasing attacks by Palestinians in recent months. Several Palestinians were also killed in Israeli attacks. A new escalation is feared during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. Israel conquered the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War. Palestinians claim the territories for their own state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
(APA/DPA)