The Israeli police announced that two Border Police officers were killed in the Hadera attack, and three others were wounded, according to the website Times of Israel.
The police statement identified the two dead as 19-year-old Yazan Falah and Sheryl Abukart, and noted that they “rescued many people in the attack.”
The police statement said: “The two soldiers fought bravely, we share the grief and embrace the families of the heroes Yazan and Cheryl, may God have mercy on them, who defended with their bodies the citizens and saved the lives of many.”
Security camera footage from the scene of the attack showed bearded gunmen dressed in white shooting pedestrians and police at a city bus stop, near several restaurants, according to The Times of Israel.
Officials said the gunmen were shot dead by two undercover policemen who were in a restaurant near the scene.
For its part, the Magen David Adom ambulance service said that “two Israelis” were killed in the attack, a man and a woman, and four others were taken to hospital, and two others were treated at the scene.
The Minister of Internal Security, Omer Bar-Lev, said that the perpetrators of the bloody attack in the city of Hadera were supporters of ISIS. “This is a very serious attack. The talk is regarding terrorists affiliated with the Islamic State,” he added.
ISIS claimed responsibility for the incident, and said in a statement published by its propaganda agency, Amaq, “At least two members of the Jewish police were killed and others were wounded, in a double immersion attack.”
The organization indicated that two of its fighters “succeeded (…) on Sunday in reaching Herbert Samuel Street in the city of Hadera in northern Palestine, and they started shooting at a Jewish police force, which resulted in the killing of two members.” “They continued to clash with the Jewish forces in the area, as a result of which regarding 10 other members were wounded with varying degrees,” he added.
According to the “Site Intelligence Group” website, which monitors the activities of extremist groups, it is the first time since 2017, that the organization has claimed an attack in Israel.
According to Israeli reports, the gunmen are Ayman and Ibrahim Igbariya from the central city of Umm al-Fahm, indicating that they arrived at the scene of the attack with 3 pistols, 6 knives, and regarding 1,100 bullets, according to Times of Israel.
The newspaper pointed out that Ibrahim, 31, was arrested by the Turkish police while he was trying to cross the border into Syria; He was subsequently arrested by the Israeli police, and he spent a year and a half in prison on charges of belonging to an armed organization.
The Israeli security forces also arrested Ayman, the second perpetrator of the attack, in 2017, on charges of possessing a weapon.
The incident came days following a man stabbed several people and ran over another in southern Israel, killing four, in one of the country’s deadliest attacks in recent years. Authorities said the attacker had previously been accused of supporting Islamic State.
The bloody attack also comes as four Arab foreign ministers and the US Secretary of State are meeting in southern Israel in an unprecedented regional meeting.
For its part, the office of Defense Minister Benny Gantz announced that it was conducting an assessment of the situation with the leaders of the army, police and intelligence, while Prime Minister Naftali Bennett visited the site of the attack.
The army announced in a statement that it will deploy four additional battalions in the Israeli settlements located between the Green Line and the security wall in the West Bank, and will consider deploying additional forces according to the development of the situation on the ground.