Gaza War: What do we know about the offensive operation in Jaffa? – BBC News Arabic

Israeli media say that two attackers, dressed in black, were seen leaving a passenger train, one of them holding a rifle in his hand.

A senior police official said that surveillance cameras show that the attackers came out of a nearby mosque, attacked passers-by on Jerusalem Street and killed two people, and then at least one of them boarded the light rail car and killed four passengers before taking off.

According to the police, the two attackers were killed in the street.

“A woman came out of the light train screaming.

Benjamin Ratzon told the Reuters news agency: “There were people on the ground and they asked me to bow down.

He said: “I saw the terrorist facing me. He wanted to do something and the security forces arrived at the site and ran towards him.”

Another witness told the Jerusalem Post that they first set off fireworks, before realizing “it was something much worse.”

He said: “There were many gunshots. We fell to the ground and people were crying. I saw someone bleeding on the ground.”

A store owner said he quickly closed the gate to his shop when he saw “a lot of people running and shouting: ‘Terrorist attack!'”

Photos posted on social media showed motionless bodies scattered on the street.

The Israeli police said that the residents of the Palestinian territories were the ones who carried out the attack. One of them was killed, and the other was hospitalized in serious condition.

The Times of Israel newspaper said it identified the attackers as two young men named Muhammad Khalaf Saher Rajab and Hassan Muhammad Hassan Tamimi, both Palestinians from the village of great Hebron in the West Bank.

Tel Aviv District Chief Haim Surgrove said police ruled out additional attackers being present after massive Israeli police and military forces conducted extensive searches in the area.

Magen David Adom Ambulance Service said paramedics rendered their services at the scene to a number of injured people with varying degrees of injuries, including some who lost consciousness.

Israeli Police Commissioner Daniel Levy visited the scene of the accident and told reporters that the police were “dealing with a serious incident”.

He said the police had no previous information about the attack.

Large police forces and the Israeli army’s anti-terrorist unit searched the area and attacked the mosque from which the attackers emerged. Many of the people present were arrested on suspicion of being involved in the attack.

As a result of the attack, the Minister of Finance in Israel, Bezalel Smotrich, said that he would request in the Cabinet that the family members of the suspects be deported to Gaza and their homes demolished.

He said he would recommend that this happen “without the High Court of Justice and without B’Tselem,” referring to the Israeli human rights group.

Israel’s Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, praised the response of the residents and the Israeli authorities, describing the event as “extremely sad.” “

He called for the closure of the mosque from which the attackers emerged, saying, “If it becomes clear that the mosque is connected, the message is clear: it must be closed and demolished.”

The attack happened about 40 minutes before sirens sounded in Jaffa due to the barrage of missiles launched from Iran.

As the sirens sounded, many police officers took cover in the shelters of nearby buildings, and as a result, investigations in the area were stopped.

Police Commissioner Danny Levy, who arrived at the scene, also entered a building and continued to direct forces from inside until the sirens stopped.

The police wrote a post on X in which they explained that they were combing the area for additional threats, in conjunction with the Iranian missile attack.