Israel News for 3-28-2022
News Update
Terror in Hadera: Yesterday two terrorists opened fire on people near a bus stop and restaurants in the northern city of Hadera. Two Border Police officers were killed and three others wounded. Three plainclothes members of an anti-terror police unit who were eating a restaurant in the area heard the shots, raced to the scene and killed the terrorists in a shootout.
The officers killed were Yezen Falah and Shirel Abukarat, both 19. Falah, a resident of the Druze village of Kisra-Sumei in the Galilee, joined the Border Police a year ago and is survived by his parents and a brother and sister. Abukarat, a resident of Netanya whose family immigrated from France, joined the force six months ago and is survived by her parents and a brother.
The terrorists were cousins from the Arab city of Umm al-Fahm, near Hadera. They were members of a local ISIS cell. The brother of one of the terrorists is an Israeli police officer in Kfar Saba. He had no knowledge of the attack, and was shocked by it. One of the terrorists had been arrested in 2016 for attempting to join ISIS in Turkey. This is similar to the terrorist who killed 4 people in Beersheva last week. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, and Hamas, the Islamic Jihad, and Hezbollah praised the attack.
Last night a large Israeli force entered Um al-Fahm where they uncovered weapons documents, books and computers containing material affiliated with the Islamic State. Five suspects were arrested.
The Shin Bet and the police are expected to conduct arrests of ISIS supporters in the coming days fearing copy cat attacks that could be carried out by sleeper cells. Security officials say they estimate up to dozens of ISIS sympathizers among Israeli Arab citizens, some have actively attempted or even succeeded in traveling to Syria or Iraq to join the Islamic State fighters in the past decade.
PM Bennett has tested positive for Covid. This was after he held an unmasked meeting with US Secretary of State Blinken.
The Negev Summit, in which the foreign ministers of Egypt, Bahrain, Morocco and the UAE as well as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken attended, ended today. All of the participants condemned yesterday’s attack. Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, who hosted the event, said the participants had decided to make their meeting an annual event. To read more, click here.
The Israel Population and Immigration Authority will introduce a “green track” for refugees from Ukraine and Russia employed in Israeli technology companies, whether or not they are entitled to immigrate to Israel under the Law of Return, which applies to people of Jewish descent. On this track, the process of background checks and issuing work permits will be sped up and will take only a few days. Under existing procedures, this process takes several weeks, even for those entering Israel under the Law of Return. To read more, click here.
