Just as Iran launched 181 ballistic missiles at Israel last night, two terrorists from Hebron carried out a shooting attack in Jaffa, killing seven, including a 30-year-old professional dancer, and wounding 16 more. The terrorists were killed by security forces and civillians.
The attack began in Jaffa’s Jerusalem Boulevard at around 7 p.m. According to the police, the terrorists entered a car of the Tel Aviv light rail that had stopped at the station and began shooting passengers. They then continued by foot down the boulevard, shooting with long guns and stabbing, until civilians and members of the municipal security force shot them. One of the civilians who neutralized the terrorist threat was Lev Kreitman, organizer of the Midburn festival and a survivor of the Nova massacre.
Paramedics from Magen David Adom provided first aid to victims at the scene. Seventeen victims with injuries of various levels of severity were treated in nearby hospitals. The paramedics declared the death of six victims on the spot; the death of the seventh victim was declared later on at Ichilov Hospital.
According to an initial investigation, the two terrorists left Hebron and entered Israel illegally through the wall around Jerusalem. Security forces are still investigating how they managed to enter.
Following the attack, the military closed off the entrances to Hebron and declared that Palestinian workers would not be allowed into Israel whatsoever until further notice.
As sirens blared in Tel Aviv, security forces searched the area for additional terrorists. Police Commissioner Danny Levi performed a situation assessment onsite together with the commanders for Tel Aviv and the Ayalon district.
“I arrived in the ambulance that I man to the scene of a very bad shooting attack, where we found a large number of wounded people in various states of injury at a few sites,” ambulance driver Shimi Braverman said. “Together with paramedics and EMTs from Hatzalah and MDA, we gave first aid to a large number of wounded people in various states of woundedness with penetrating injuries, and they were sent to continue receiving medical care at hospitals in the area. During the treatment at the scenes sirens were sounding in the city, and we continued to treat a number of wounded people while protecting our own security.”
Bentzi Himmel, an EMT who treated victims of the attack, said, “When I arrived at the scene of the attack, I was directed to the light rail car. There I found a very difficult scene with a large number of wounded people who were unconscious with penetrating injuries. Unfortunately, due to the sorts of serious injuries, the paramedics were forced to record their death at the scene.”
One of the seven victims of the attack has been named as Shahar Goldman, a 30-year-old professional dancer from Lod. “We didn’t want to end the year this way,” Lod Mayor Yair Rebibo said. “Shahar, may her memory be for a blessing, who got married just more than one year ago, was an outstanding international dancer and leaves behind her husband Tai, her sisters Esthaer, Dikla, and Meirav, and her parents Avraham and Ruth Goldman.”
Ichilov Hospital in Jaffa reported that four people with medium to severe injuries had been taken to the hospital. All four entered surgery. One of the injured is in critical condition.
Two additional wounded people were transferred to Ichilov from Wolfson Hospital.
This article was translated from Hebrew and edited for context by Leah Schwartz.
