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Photos:
Scene in Tel Aviv. Published by IMEMC News
Dia’ Hamarsha. Published by IMEMC News
Amir Khouri. Published by IMEMC News
Avishai Yehezkel. Published by IMEMC News
Yaakov Shalom. Published by IMEMC News

Scene in Bnei Brak. Credit: Ofer Vaknin Published by Haaretz
Suspect arrested by security forces.Credit: Ohad Zwigenberg Published by Haaretz
Scene in Bnei Brak. Credit: Tomer Appelbaum Published by Haaretz

See Videos at IMEMC and Haaretz News Source links.
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by IMEMC News
Mar 30, 2022

Israeli sources said five Israelis were shot dead by a Palestinian in a suburb of Tel Aviv before the latter was killed. Israel declared the highest level of alert in light of the developments.

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Update: March 30, 10:22: Israeli sources identified the Israelis as Yaakov Shalom, 36, Avishai Yhezkel, 29, from Bnei Brak, officer Amir Khouri, 32, from Nazareth.

The remaining two are Ukraine Nationals whose names are yet to be officially released. Only referred to, so far, as Shasha and Dima, two workers from Ukraine who were eating outdoors.

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An Israeli police spokesperson said the Palestinian young man carried the fatal shootings out in two areas in Bnei Brak, east of Tel Aviv, and added that one of the Israelis killed in the attack was an officer who tried to stop the attack.

The spokesperson added that the four other Israeli civilians were shot dead by the Palestinian.

Israeli daily Haaretz said footage from the scene shows the Palestinian armed with an assault rifle before entering a convenience store and shooting one young man who fled to a nearby building.

“The shooter then aimed his rifle at another person riding on a bike but missed and opened fire at a passing car. The car stopped after the initial fire, at which point the assailant came closer to it and fired through the window at the driver, who was killed,” Haaretz added.

Haaretz quoted the Israeli police stating that the Palestinian was shot dead by an officer, identified as Amir Khoury, 32.

The Palestinian who carried the shooting out was identified as Dia’ Hamarsha, 27, from Ya’bad town, west of the northern West Bank city of Jenin. In 2013, he was detained by Israel and spent six months in prison.

The police initiated massive searches in the area and detained a Palestinian construction worker who had no work permit but apparently had nothing to do with the shooting.

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz held a meeting with the Army Chief of Staff and the head of the Shin Bet security service, the head of military intelligence, and the head of military operations to assess the situation.

Haaretz said the Israeli Security Cabinet plans to hold a meeting to discuss the fatal attack and assess the situation.

Israeli Ynet News stated that Magen David Adom paramedics said they found the corpses of the Palestinian and one Israeli in Hertzl Street in Bnei Barak.

It added that another Israeli was found dead inside his car, and two Israelis were shot dead on Bialik Street in the predominantly ultra-Orthodox city.

The Ynet stated that another Israeli was seriously injured after suffering multiple gunshot wounds to his body and was rushed to Beilinson Hospital in critical condition.”

Hours after the fatal shooting, dozens of Israeli military vehicles were deployed around Ya’bad town, before isolating the entire area.

In Hebron, in the southern part of the West Bank, illegal Israeli colonizers attacked and caused damage to dozens of Palestinian cars and closed many roads in several parts of the city and its surrounding areas.

The colonizers also attacked and caused damage to many Palestinian cars near Ramallah, in the central West Bank, Jenin, Tulkarem, and Nablus in the northern part of the occupied territory.

One Palestinian, Zaki Abdul-Rahim Oleiwi, 41, was also injured after several colonizers attacked him near Shavei Shomron illegal colony, built on Palestinian lands northwest of Nablus.

The Palestinian, from Sebastia town near Nablus, suffered a fracture in the army and several bruises before he was rushed to Rafidia hospital in Nablus.

In occupied Jerusalem, an Israeli colonizer rammed a Palestinian with his car at the al-Ezariyah junction, while many colonizers hurled stones at Palestinians and their cars in the at-Tour town and several other areas, causing damage.

The Palestinian, Fadi Damiri from Silwan town, was rushed to a hospital in Jerusalem.

Israeli soldiers also abducted a young Palestinian man in the Bab al-Amoud area, in Jerusalem.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas denounced the shooting and stated that the ongoing killing of Palestinian and Israeli civilians would only lead to further deterioration and expressed his support for all efforts that would lead to achieving stability and avoiding escalation, especially due to the upcoming Jewish, Christian, and Islamic holidays.

Abbas also warned that illegal Israeli colonizers in the West Bank would likely escalate their ongoing violations and attacks against the Palestinians.

“Comprehensive and just peace is the shortest and fastest way to achieve security and stability for the Palestinians and the Israelis,” he added.

This is a developing story.

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Five Killed Near Tel Aviv in Third Shooting Attack in a Week; Palestinian Gunman Killed

The assailant, a 26-year-old Palestinian from the West Bank who had previously served time in Israel, was shot dead; Bennett says Israel will fight terrorism 'with an iron fist'
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by Reporters for Haaretz
Mar. 29, 2022
Updated: Mar. 29, 2022 10:51 PM

A Palestinian gunman killed five people on Tuesday in a suburb of Tel Aviv, in the third deadly attack in Israel within days, prompting police to go on the highest level of alert since the fighting with Gaza last year.

A police spokesman said that the shooting attack took place in two different areas in Bnei Brak. One of the victims is a police officer who was trying to stop the attacker; the rest were civilians.

Footage from the scene shows the assailant, armed with an assault rifle, entering a convenience store and firing at a young man, who is seen escaping into a nearby building. The shooter then aimed his rifle at another person riding on a bike, but missed, and then opened fire at a passing car. The car came to a stop after the initial fire, at which point the assailant came closer to it and fired through the window at the driver, who was killed.

Police said that the assailant was shot at the scene by a police officer, identified as Amir Khoury, 32, from the northern Israeli city of Nof Hagalil. The shooter is named as Diaa Hamarsheh, a 26-year-old Palestinian from Ya'bad, near Jenin, in the West Bank.

He had apparently been in Israel without permits. The assailant had been arrested by Israel in 2013 for security offenses and served a six-month sentence.

Assailant served time in Israeli prison

While Hamarsheh was affiliated with Fatah during his time in prison, security sources are not associating Tuesday's attack with the organization. Instead, they believe that he was inspired by last week's attacks in Israel and was not backed by any specific organization.

Shin Bet and police are estimating that the assailant obtained the assault rifle in Israeli territory after crossing the separation wall from the West Bank through a breach between Umm al-Fahm and Baka al-Garbiyeh.

According to preliminary findings, Hamarsheh, worked in Bnei Brak and was familiar with the area.

A Palestinian suspect at a construction site near the scene of the crime, also without an entry permit, was arrested.

Defense Minister Benny Gantz convened a situational assessment with the IDF chief of staff, the head of the Shin Bet security service, the head of military intelligence and the head of the military's operations division.

The security cabinet will hold a meeting on Wednesday regarding the attack.

Police Chief Kobi Shabtai raised the police's alert level to the highest possible, the highest it has been since the fighting in Gaza in May. Police will be focusing most of their efforts on fighting terror, increasing their presence in the streets.

Following the attack, security forces will hold a series of operations to arrest Palestinians who are residing illegally in Israel, which will require sidelining other tasks related to fighting crime in Arab communities.

Security Minister Bar-Lev said that six Border Police reserve companies are called up to bolster security, three of them were scheduled to join ahead of Ramadan while the remaining three are recruited due to the latest series of attacks.

Bennett decries 'murderous Arab terror wave'

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who held a meeting in light of the attack with top defense officials, said in a statement: "Israel faces a murderous Arab terror wave... We will fight terrorism with persistence, diligence and an iron fist... We will win."

Defense Minister Benny Gantz wrote on Twitter that he sends his condolences to the families of the victims. "We have been through difficult times as a nation and as a country against terror waves, and we have always won with determination and strength, and thus it shall be this time as well."

He added, "The entire defense establishment – the IDF, the Shin Bet and the police – will give every effort in order to return security to the streets of Israel and a sense of security to the citizens."

A Hamas official in the Gaza Strip said that the organization "welcomes the heroic operation, which is a natural response to the crimes of the occupation against the Palestinian people." He added that "This is also a swift response to the shameful summit that was held in the south," referring to the Negev Summit, in which Israel hosted a number of Arab foreign ministers. No group has yet taken responsibility for the shooting.

The al-Aqsa Martyr's Brigade, the militant wing of Fatah, also welcomed the attack as "a natural response to the crimes of the occupation."

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the attack, saying that killings of both Israeli and Palestinian civilians might lead to escalation, at a "time in which we are striving for stability" ahead of Ramadan, Passover and Easter.

A resident of Ya'bad, the town from which the assailant hailed, told Haaretz that the local mosques sent out announcements that the attacker was a resident, in the name of the different militant groups and political parties.

U.S., U.K. condemn

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides tweeted that "My heart goes out to the families of the victims. No one should have to endure such heartbreak."

British Foreign Minister Liz Truss also expressed her condolences on Twitter: "I am deeply saddened by another terrible terror attack in Israel today. My thoughts are with the Israeli people, especially those affected," she wrote. "The U.K. condemns this horrifying and senseless violence."

The IDF and police are stepping up security amid the rising tensions in the West Bank and the areas bordering it. The military has recently expressed concern over a deteriorating security situation in the West Bank and Jerusalem ahead of the Passover and Ramadan holidays, and following several deadly incidents between Israeli soldiers and Palestinians.

With Land Day approaching on Wednesday, which typically sees large-scale protests and riots against Israel on the Gaza border, factions in the Strip announced that they would be holding the demonstrations by the coast, rather than on the Israeli border. The move was made in order to reduce tensions and to avoid clashes on the border. The IDF is also bolstering its forces on the Gaza border and in the West Bank in preparation for Land Day.

On Sunday, two assailants from the Israeli Arab city of Umm al-Fahm carried out a shooting attack in Hadera, killing two 19-year-old Border Police members.

Both of the gunmen were Islamic State sympathizers, and were shot dead at the scene. That attack came as foreign ministers from Israel and four Arab countries met in the Negev for a historic summit, along with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Overnight Monday, Israeli police arrested twelve people in an operation in the Wadi Ara area, including the city of Umm al-Fahm, on suspicion of various security offenses, including possession of weapons and affiliation with the Islamic State.

Last Tuesday, four people were killed in a stabbing attack in Be'er Sheva; in that attack as well, the assailant was shot dead. He, too, identified with the Islamic State.

Last year, clashes between Israeli police and Muslim protesters during Ramadan boiled over into an 11-day war between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers.

Haaretz reporters Ran Shimoni, Josh Breiner, Aaron Rabinowitz, Yaniv Kubovich, Jack Khoury, Michael Hauser Tov, Ido Efrati and Amos Harel contributed to this report