Islamic States terrorists killed two policemen and wounded several others in the northern Israeli city of Hadera on Sunday. The two terrorists were taken down by an Israeli special forces unit patrolling nearby.
The terrorists, two cousins from a nearby Arab town, were affiliated with the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist group. “Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted on its Telegram account,” Reuters reported.
The victims were identified as Border Police officers Yezen Falah and Shirel Abukarat, both aged 19.
This is the second ISIS-linked attack in Israel in recent days. On Tuesday, a convicted ISIS member killed four Israelis, including women and the elderly, and injured several others in a car-ramming and stabbing attack in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba.
Sunday’s attack in Hadera coincides with the 20th anniversary of the ‘Passover Massacre‘ carried out by the Islamic terrorist group Hamas. Thirty people were killed and 120 injured in the suicide bombing by Hamas’ Iz a Din al-Kassam Brigades members. The Park Hotel in Netanya, where the 2002 bombing took place, is only 12 miles from the site of the latest ISIS attack.
The Israeli news website YnetNews reported the details of the terror attack and its link to ISIS:
Ibrahim and Ayman Agbarriya — two cousins from the Arab town of Umm al-Fahm, just miles away from the scene of the attack — arrived in the northern city by car, carrying at least three pistols, several knives, and over 1,100 rounds of ammunition with them.They went on a deadly shooting spree that only ended a few solid minutes later when several special forces police officers who were dining at a nearby restaurant heard the shots, ran to the scene and opened fire at the terrorists who were lurking behind a bus.One of the terrorists — Ibrahim — was arrested and convicted in 2016 for trying to join the Islamic State during the group’s heyday when it ruled large chunks of Syria and Iraq.In his investigation, the then-23-year-old said that he got radicalized by watching videos of the group published online and began sympathizing with its ideology. He decided to travel to Syria and join its ranks.
These Islamist terror attacks come as Israeli security forces prepare for a spike in terrorism and violence during the upcoming period of Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting. On Sunday, the Times of Israel noted that “officials had been warning of a flare-up of violence before and during the holy month of Ramadan, which begins later this week.”
The last year’s Ramadan saw widespread Palestinian rioting and violent street attacks on Jews across Israel. The 2021 Ramadan rioting was followed by massive Hamas rocket fire on Israeli towns and cities.
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