The Islamic State group on Monday claimed a shooting in northern Israel that killed two police officers, according to a statement released by the Amaq propaganda site.
“Two members of the Jewish (state’s) police force were killed and others were injured in an immersive commando attack,” IS said in a rare claim for an attack inside Israel. The group said two of its fighters had carried out the shooting on Sunday at Herbert Samuel Street in Hadera city in northern Israel.
It claimed 10 others were wounded in ensuing clashes. According to the SITE intelligence group, this is the first time since 2017 that IS has officially claimed an attack in Israel.
The deadly attack comes as four Arab foreign ministers and the US secretary of state are gathering in southern Israel in an unprecedented regional meeting.
Dudu Boani, the police deputy commander for the region, said the assailants were shot dead. The IS proto-state — which once administered millions of people across swathes of Syria and Iraq — was declared defeated on March 23, 2019. But IS operatives continue to conduct attacks across the globe.
Earlier this month, the IS group confirmed the death of its leader Abu Ibrahim al-Qurashi and named Abu Hasan al-Hashemi al-Qurashi as his replacement.
The announcement came more than a month after the IS chief died during a US raid that saw commandos swoop in by helicopter to an area in northwest Syria controlled by rival militants.—APP
