Tensions are rising again in the Middle East following a shooting attack that left one dead and five wounded in Israel. It began around 11 a.m. near the communities of Kochav Yair, Tzur Yitzhak, and Tzur Natan, in central Israel .
The terrorist, Omar Yassin, a 21-year-old Arab-Israeli, was killed by security forces after striking in several locations while traveling by car. The attack was applauded by Hamas, which in a statement to Al Jazeera called it "heroic": "A response to the ongoing aggression against Gaza and the ongoing crimes against our people in the West Bank and Jerusalem. The resistance will continue," the terrorist organization stated. Palestinian Islamic Jihad supported the claim.
Among the initial international reactions was Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who "firmly condemned the Hamas terrorist attack," expressing "solidarity with the victims and their families" and closeness to the Israeli authorities. "No political cause, no conflict, no claim can legitimize the massacre of innocent civilians. Dialogue is the only path to lasting peace," he added.
Meanwhile, in Gaza, Hamas's Civil Defense reported that ten people were killed and 17 wounded in IDF attacks that day . The army announced that on Tuesday, in a targeted attack in the southern Strip, it killed Sakr Abu Karim, commander of a Hamas Nukhba cell, one of the leaders of the attack on Kibbutz Kissufim during the October 7, 2023, massacre.
