Israel

Local media reported that Tel Aviv Police shot and killed the terrorist responsible for a car-ramming and shooting attack that resulted in one fatality and six injuries on Friday night. According to the police, an investigator at a nearby gas station heard a commotion following the terrorist's attack in Charles Clore Park on the Tel Aviv waterfront. "The police officer and Tel Aviv municipality inspectors approached the vehicle and determined that the driver was attempting to reach for the weapon he was carrying," police said, according to media reports. "The officer and inspectors neutralized and killed the driver," police said. According to Tel Aviv police superintendent Amichai Eshed, the suspect in a Tel Aviv ramming drove "clearly" onto a bicycle lane and struck a number of pedestrians. Police say a vehicle struck a group of people near a popular seaside park before flipping over. Eshed tells the media that police are investigating the attacker's motives and background and are scouring the area for evidence. According to Eshed, the area has been sealed off, as reported by the media. Eshed cautions against online dissemination of false information. Multiple reports indicate that the perpetrator was from the Israeli city of Kfar Qasem. The suspect reportedly worked in Tel Aviv, according to Channel 12. According to Magen David Adom, all of the victims of today's terrorist incident in Tel Aviv are tourists. A male in his 30s has been pronounced dead by medical personnel. Earlier media reports indicated that the victim was an Italian tourist. Israeli airstrikes on Palestinian terrorist targets in Lebanon and Gaza, as well as a shooting assault in the occupied West Bank that killed two Israelis, had heightened tensions prior to the attack. That followed days of violence and disturbance at the most sensitive holy site in Jerusalem, the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in the Old City. The Washington Post reported that a shooting in the northern West Bank on Friday killed two Israeli-British sisters and severely wounded their mother, adding to an already tense atmosphere in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories during a holiday week marred by violence. According to a statement by Oded Revivi, the mayor of Efrat, the sisters, ages 21 and 16, resided in Efrat, a settlement just south of Jerusalem. Revivi stated in a voice message that their mother, who is in her forties, was hurt in the attack. In the Jordan Valley, they were traveling in a car while the rest of the family drove ahead in a separate vehicle. Revivi stated that the family, who has resided in Efrat for two decades, was traveling to a holiday gathering in the north when the attack occurred. Police have not yet disclosed the victims' names. The British Foreign Office verified on Friday that the sisters also held British citizenship. A spokesperson for the office said in a statement, "We are saddened to learn of the deaths of two British-Israeli citizens and the serious injuries sustained by a third individual." The United Kingdom urges all stakeholders in the region to de-escalate tensions. Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, has pledged to apprehend the attackers, stating, "it's only a matter of time... until we settle the score." "Our forces are actively pursuing terrorists on the battlefield." We will soon hold them accountable," he said. Meanwhile, Russia reportedly advocated for multilateral negotiations to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Friday at a press conference following talks with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that Moscow is in favor of resuming multilateral negotiations with the Quartet on the Middle East and the Arab League to find a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "We have long advocated for the resumption of the multilateral process for the Israeli-Palestinian settlement, as there is a universally recognized collective mediator, the Quartet, which consists of Russia, the United States, the European Union, and the United Nations," he stated. Lavrov added, "It is precisely within this framework, with the obligatory participation of the Arab League, that we can, in practice and with some hope of success, seek agreements based on the principles of the two-state solution as they are stated in documents." Also read this:US says that it’stands with’ Israel following the’reprehensible’ Tel Aviv attacks According to media reports, Lavrov stated that the Quartet has not convened for some time and that the United States is blocking its meetings.