What happened: Three Israelis were injured, one
critically, after a terrorist gunman opened fire in Tel Aviv on
Thursday night.
- Mutaz Salah al-Khawaja, 23, began shooting at passersby
at the intersection of Dizengoff Street and Ben-Gurion Boulevard
at around 9.00pm.
- He then fled to a nearby building before later leaving and
being shot dead by four people, including police officers and an
off-duty reserve IDF officer.
- Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv confirmed that one of the
shooting victims was given emergency life-saving surgery on
arrival but that their life remained in danger.
- Injuries to the other two were described as non-life
threatening and their condition as “serious and
light-to-moderate”.
- Clashes later occurred between troops and locals in
al-Khawaja’s West Bank home village of Ni’lin when troops
entered to map out his home following Defence Minister Yoav
Gallant’s order for its immediate razing.
- The IDF confirmed one “hit”, while Al-Khawaja’s father and
another family member were arrested as locals launched Molotov
cocktails, hurled stones, and set up flaming roadblocks.
- Earlier on Thursday, three Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ)
terrorists were shot dead after opening fire on undercover
Israeli forces personnel attempting an arrest raid in the West
Bank village of Jaba’, south of Jenin.
- Weapons and explosives were found in the suspects’ car, while
the IDF confirmed that a Skylark drone was downed during the
operation.
- In further raids netting 15 arrests on Thursday morning,
troops also came under fire in other West Bank locations.
- In a separate incident on Thursday, A Palestinian man
was shot and killed attempting to launch an attack with a knife
and IEDs after breaking into the Havat Dorot Illit farm
near the West Bank settlement of Karnei Shomron.
- Elsewhere, troops searched Beitar Illit after an IED was
found on a bus in the West Bank settlement.
- IDF troops also came under fire from Palestinian gunmen while
operating in Tulkarem last night
Context: Thursday’s events follow a previous
week in which deadly terror attacks killed brothers Hallel and
Yagel Yaniv and Elan Ganeles, and also saw the riot by
settlers in Huwara claim the life of one Palestinian resident.
- The rise in terrorism in recent months has left 14 Israelis
dead and many others, including the latest victims, injured.
- At least 74 Palestinians have been killed, the vast majority
either in the midst of terrorist activity or during clashes with
Israeli troops.
- On Tuesday, six Palestinians were killed, including the
terrorist responsible for the murders of the Yaniv brothers in
Huwara last week, during an IDF raid in Jenin.
- A seventh Palestinian, a fourteen-year-old boy succumbed
yesterday morning to wounds sustained in the operation.
- Defence Minister Yoav Gallant yesterday hosted US Secretary
of Defence Lloyd Austin, with their talks including discussion of
the escalation in violence.
- In public remarks Gallant highlighted the importance of
seeking stability and security with a priority on the “economic
prosperity and well-being of the Palestinian people”. However,
“This should never come at the expense of the life of a single
citizen of Israel.”
- Dizengoff Street is a busy and popular area of Tel Aviv and
was crowded with post-Purim revellers at the time of Thursday’s
attack.
- It was also the site of deadly terror attacks last year
(killing three) and in 2016 (killing two).
- Israeli Police Chief Kobi Shabtai noted that the attack could
have proven even worse. “We had a lot of luck here,” he said;
“the fast reaction of the cops and citizens on the site prevented
the murder of hundreds of people.”
- Protests against the government’s judicial reform were
occurring nearby and diverted from their planned arrival
in Dizengoff Street.
- Hamas claimed al-Khawaja as a member and called the
attack a “natural response” to recent Israeli raids, without
explicitly claiming responsibility.
- Al-Khawaja was in Israel without a valid permit and had
previously served two Israeli prison sentences for weapons
smuggling.
- British Ambassador to Israel tweeted “A shocking attack in
Tel Aviv tonight - close to the British Embassy and somewhere
we walk past often. I wish a swift recovery to the injured. The
UK condemns such terrorism.”
- In the context of rising violence, five former police
commissioners, three former senior Prison Service officials,
and dozens of other former law enforcement officials wrote to
Netanyahu urging the removal of Itamar Ben Gvir as National
Security Minister.
- The letter said that Ben Gvir’s policies, including his plans
to continue house demolitions in East Jerusalem during the
flashpoint period of Ramadan, were akin to “throwing a lit match
into a barrel of gunpowder, which could in the best case bring
about a third intifada, and in the worst case ignite an
unnecessary fire in the Muslim world.”
- Tel Aviv District Police Commander Amichai Eshed rushed
to attend the scene of the Tel Aviv shooting on the same day he
was fired by Ben Gvir, reportedly over the latter’s view that he
had been too soft in his response to protesters.
Looking ahead: Netanyahu’s office confirmed that
he will remain in Italy until Sunday, as scheduled.
- Israeli officials remain braced for further escalations in
the run-up to and during Ramadan, which this year begins on March
22nd and partially coincides with Pesach.
