Two Palestinian men killed at least one person and injured at least 12 others on Monday, Jan. 15, in a coordinated “car-ramming” attack, according to Israeli police. The incident occurred in the central Israeli city of Ra’anana.
Authorities believe the drivers are relatives from the Israeli-occupied city of Hebron in the West Bank, as reported by CBS News. The national police chief announced the arrest of the two men suspected of the terror attack shortly after the incident.
The Ra’anana incident follows 101 days after Israel initiated an offensive in Gaza in response to a Hamas attack on Oct. 7, where the group killed 1,200 people at a festival and took more than 240 hostages.
Over the weekend, Hamas released a video claiming to show three Israeli hostages, vowing that their fate would be known soon.
Amid ongoing military operations, an Israeli airstrike on Sunday, Jan. 14, reportedly killed at least 12 Palestinians inside a house. The Israeli military also announced the uncovering of another Hamas command center.
The conflict in the Gaza Strip has reached a critical point. The Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry reports that over 24,000 Palestinians have been killed, and more than 85% are displaced.
The United Nations has called for a humanitarian ceasefire, a move rejected by the Israeli government. Moshe Tetro, an official from the Israeli military body COGAT, stated that aid delivery could be improved if the U.N. provided more workers and trucks for security checks.
The terror attack in Ra’anana raises concerns about the continuity of the Israeli offensive in Gaza. The U.S. demanded a reduction in Israeli military operations just hours before the attack.
According to a report by The Hill, a White House national security spokesperson stated that this is “the right time” for Israel to scale down operations. Initially open to U.S. demands, the Israeli government signaled a reduction in the intensity of the fight against Hamas, withdrawing and rotating military units as a new phase begins amid mounting international pressure to halt the bombardment of the Gaza Strip.
