Gaza War: What do we know about the offensive operation in Jaffa?

Six people were killed and at least seventeen others were injured, many of them in serious condition, in a shooting and stabbing attack in the coastal city of Jaffa, located within the Tel Aviv municipality, on Tuesday evening.

The death of the seventh victim was announced a few hours after the attack, according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

The Israeli police said that the attack occurred near the light rail station on Jerusalem Street in the city of Jaffa, in what Israeli newspapers described as “one of the most violent attacks” in recent years.

Israeli police spokesman Dean Elsdoni said that initial reports indicated that two attackers arrived at the scene of the incident, “where they jumped onto a light train. On the train, they began shooting at civilians.”

Israeli media say that two attackers, dressed in black, were seen leaving a passenger train, one of them holding a rifle, and opened fire on passers-by, before they were targeted by bullets from a bystander and a security guard.

A senior police officer said that surveillance cameras show that the two attackers emerged from a nearby mosque, attacked passers-by on Jerusalem Street and killed two, then at least one of them boarded the light rail car and killed four passengers before leaving.

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

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“A woman came out of the light train screaming. Immediately after that, I saw injured people,” said Mohammed, a flower seller who witnessed the attack, adding that it was a “sad and difficult day.”

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

He added: “I saw the terrorist confronting me. He wanted to do something and the security forces arrived at the scene and ran towards him.”

Another witness told The Jerusalem Post that they initially mistook the shooting for fireworks, before realizing “it was something much worse.”

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

A store owner said that he quickly closed his store’s gate when he saw “crowds of people running and shouting: ‘Terrorist attack!'”

Footage posted on social media showed motionless bodies scattered in the street.

The Israeli police said that the perpetrators of the attack were residents of the Palestinian territories. One of them was killed, while the other is in the hospital in serious condition.

The Times of Israel newspaper reported identifying the perpetrators of the attack, saying that they were two young men named Muhammad Khalaf Saher Rajab and Hassan Muhammad Hassan Tamimi, both of whom were Palestinians from the city of Hebron in the occupied West Bank.

Tel Aviv District Commander Haim Surgrove said that the police ruled out the presence of additional attackers after large police and Israeli army forces conducted large-scale searches in the area.

The Magen David Adom ambulance service said that paramedics provided their services at the site to a number of wounded people with varying degrees of injuries, including some who lost consciousness.

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

He added that the police had no prior intelligence information about the attack.

Large police forces and the Israeli army’s anti-terrorism unit carried out searches in the area and raided the mosque from which the attackers emerged. Many of the individuals present were arrested on suspicion of involvement in the attack.

In the wake of the attack, Israel’s hardline Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, said he would demand in the Cabinet that the suspects’ family members be deported to Gaza and their homes demolished.

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

The Israeli Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, praised the response of the residents and the Israeli authorities, describing the incident as “extremely difficult.”

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

The attack occurred 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, leading to the suspension of searches in the area.

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

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