At least seven dead in attack moments before Iran launched rocket barrage on Israel.
The armed wing of the Palestinian group Hamas has claimed responsibility for a shooting in Jaffa, near the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, which left seven dead and many injured.
“The Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades takes responsibility for the heroic Jaffa operation carried out by fighters from the (occupied West Bank) city of Hebron,” the group said in a statement on Wednesday.
The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades named the attackers as Mohammed Misk and Ahmed al-Haimoni, who managed to “infiltrate into our occupied lands”.
The attack took place moments before Iran launched a barrage of rockets into Israel on Tuesday evening, sending people into air raid shelters across the country.
Israeli media identified three of the dead as Israelis and one as a Georgian. The others were Greek and Moldovan, their governments said. The identity of the seventh victim has not been released.
Israeli police said the suspected attackers “began their killing spree when they entered the light rail train car that stopped at the station and shot the passengers.”
They were armed with an assault rifle and a knife and continued walking until police “neutralized” them, they said.
One of the attackers was shot and killed and the other seriously injured, police added.
Israeli security agencies and the military also arrested several suspects in Hebron and Jerusalem on suspicion of aiding the suspects.
Israel and Hamas have been at war in Gaza since October 7. At least 41,689 people were killed and 96,625 injured during the Israeli attack on Gaza, according to Palestinian authorities. At least 1,139 people were killed in Hamas-led attacks, according to an Tel Aviv Tribune tally based on Israeli statistics, and around 250 others were taken hostage.
Violence in the West Bank has also increased. Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 682 people in raids or attacks in the territory since October 7, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
