Photo: Emergency responders move a victim of a shooting Tuesday in the Jaffa neighborhood of Tel Aviv to an ambulance. (Itai Ron/AP)
Hamas claimed responsibility Wednesday for what Israeli police and emergency services described as a “combined shooting and stabbing attack” Tuesday that left seven people dead and 16 injured near a light-rail stop in Tel Aviv.
Israeli police said Wednesday in a statement that two men entered a stopped railcar and opened fire at the passengers. They then continued on foot toward Jerusalem Boulevard in the city’s busy Jaffa neighborhood, “hitting passersby until they were neutralized” by local authorities and residents who used their “personal pistols.”
Police named the two as Muhammad Masek, 19, who was killed at the scene, and Ahmed Himoni, 25, who was seriously injured. They were armed with an “M16 weapon, cartridges and a knife,” the authorities said, adding that they were both residents of Hebron.
“I noticed several victims near the train tracks suffering from gunshot wounds. I immediately began providing medical treatment, and at the same time, passersby pointed out additional victims at a nearby kiosk,” Yousef Kourdi, an emergency medical technician with Israel’s emergency service, Magen David Adom, said in a statement.
Another emergency medic, Israel Rost, said he treated victims suffering from stab wounds in a synagogue and a butcher shop at a nearby commercial center. They had moderate to serious injuries.
Two paramedics, Omri Gorga and Noam Eliyof, said eyewitnesses described seeing a railcar struck by gunfire as it traveled along Jerusalem Boulevard, a tree-lined thoroughfare and public transportation route, before coming to a stop at Makhrozet Street.
The pair recounted in a statement released by emergency services officials Tuesday that they found injured people inside and around the railcar, four of whom were unconscious and appeared lifeless. They were pronounced dead at the scene.
Hamas said the attack was carried out by its armed wing, the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades.
Hamas also claimed responsibility for an earlier bombing that shook Tel Aviv in August. That explosion, near a synagogue, injured at least one person. Hamas warned at the time that such operations “will resume prominently” as long as the war in Gaza continues.
The latest attack occurred just ahead of a large-scale missile attack from Iran, adding to the broader tensions.
The medics said they continued to provide first aid to others as an alarm sounded, warning of a swarm of Iranian missiles over Tel Aviv and sending residents scrambling for shelters.
The Washington Post
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