Four Israelis were killed and 10 injured in a shooting at the Sarona Market in Tel Aviv around 9:30 pm on Wednesday night, June 8. The police identified the four murdered Israelis as Eido Ben Aryeh, 42, from Ramat Gan, Elana Nave, 39, from Tel Aviv, Professor Michael Fayge, 58, from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, and Mila Mishayiv, 58, from Rishon LeZion
Israeli soldiers in the town of Yatta in the occupied West Bank district of Hebron, on Thursday morning, June 9 (Photo: IDF)
The suspected attackers were identified by Israeli police as cousins Muhammad Ahmad Moussa Makhamreh and Khalid Muhammad Moussa Makhamreh from the town of Yatta in the occupied West Bank district of Hebron. According to Haaretz, two armed men dressed in suits opened fire at passersby near the Benedict restaurant and then on nearby Ha’arbaa Street. The two of them were subdued, during which one sustained injuries, and were taken into police custody. Haaretz also reported that at least six of the wounded had been evacuated to Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Hospital and that another was taken to Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer. At least three were in moderate condition after they underwent surgery while the condition of two was described as not serious. The injured victim hospitalized at Sheba was reportedly in moderate condition.
Hadash MKs from the Joint List released a statement Thursday morning condemning the deadly terror attack Wednesday evening in a restaurant in Tel Aviv. But together with their condemnations, Hadash MKs also blasted the Israeli government for instigating the cycle of violence. Joint List chairman Ayman Odeh issued a statement Thursday which read: “I condemn and [am] hurt by the terrible assault on civilians. My heart goes out to the families. Attacks on the innocent are always wrong, and there can be no justification for shooting civilians in the street.” “This government has only brought about a deepening of hatred and violence. We must completely remove Palestinian and Israeli civilians from the cycle of hate and bloodshed. We must struggle together in a just way to bring an end to the occupation and to bring justice and peace for the two peoples.”
MK Dov Khenin, issued a similar statement both condemning the terror attack as well as the cycle of violence. “I condemn the murder in Tel Aviv. Intentionally targeting civilians is a crime. We must break this terrible cycle of violence in order to protect life and guarantee a future for our two peoples.”
Following the attack, Israeli forces raided the Makhamrehs’ hometown of Yatta in the predawn hours of Thursday morning, detaining an unspecified number of persons. An Israeli army spokeswoman confirmed that a number of detentions had been carried out in the Hebron area overnight, adding that she could not confirm how many due to this information being part of an “ongoing investigation.” She added that, as part of an “ongoing military assessment,” entrances to Yatta were closed except for humanitarian and medical cases. Palestinian residents told Ma’an news agency that dozens of soldiers raided the homes of the two suspects, adding that a Palestinian man and his son were detained in the area. Israeli forces closed all entrances of Yatta, preventing Palestinians from coming in or out of the town.
In addition, the Israeli Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), which implements Israeli policies in the occupied Palestinian territory, issued an order freezing more than 83,000 permits for Palestinians to enter Israel and occupied East Jerusalem, the organization said on Thursday. “In accordance with the security assessment taken last night by the Prime Minister (Benjamin Netanyahu), the Minister of Defense and the IDF Chief of Staff, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, Major General Yoav (Poly) Mordechai, has ordered the freezing of 204 permits for relatives of the terrorists,” COGAT said in a statement on Thursday. “In addition, all of the permits for Ramadan, especially permits for family visits from Judea and Samaria to Israel, are frozen,” the statement read, using the Israeli term for the occupied West Bank. “Accordingly, 83,000 permits are frozen.”
The Hamas movement said the Tel Aviv shooting was the first “good omen” for Palestinians and the first “surprise” for the “enemy” during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which began on Tuesday. Hamas spokesman Hussam Badran applauded the shooters, adding the fact that they were able to enter Israel from the occupied West Bank.
