Israeli police say one killed in Haifa bus station knife attack

A knife attack occurred in the northern Israeli city of Haifa, which police are calling a terrorist attack. The attack resulted in the death of one Israeli man and injuries to four others. The incident took place at the Hamifratz Central Station in Haifa, where a Druze man, after disembarking from a bus, attacked civilians with a knife before being shot dead by a security guard at the scene.

The victim has been identified as 70-year-old Hassan Dahamsha, a resident of the Arab town of Kafr Kanna. Paramedics stated that the injured included a 15-year-old boy, as well as a man and a woman in their thirties, all three in serious condition. The attacker was from Shfaram, another town predominantly inhabited by Arabs, and police said he had recently returned from abroad, but did not specify his motives.

Israeli Druze leaders have condemned the rare attack carried out by a member of the Druze community. The Druze are an ethnic and religious group whose faith is an offshoot of Shia Islam. Approximately 150,000 Druze people reside in Israel and the occupied Golan Heights, accounting for about 1.5% of the total population.

Witnesses and security officials stated that the attacker traveled by bus from Shfaram to Haifa on Monday morning, with Shfaram located approximately 10 kilometers east of Haifa. According to Haaretz, a female witness said that after the bus arrived, a man got off, wielding a knife, shouting "Allahu Akbar," and began stabbing people indiscriminately. A security official said the attacker stabbed three people waiting at the station before proceeding to the security checkpoint, where he stabbed an elderly man before being shot dead by a security guard.

A police spokesperson stated that the attacker had been abroad for the past few months and returned to Israel in February of this year. Israeli media identified him as Itro Shahin, 20 years old, holding German citizenship, and having resided in Germany. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated: "My wife Sara and I send our deepest condolences to the family of the victim who was murdered in the shocking terrorist attack in Haifa. We will continue to fight those who seek to murder us everywhere, and we will defeat them."

Sheikh Muafaq Tarif, the spiritual leader of the Israeli Druze community, also condemned the attack, but added, "Before making judgments, it is important to await a thorough investigation by the security forces and fully clarify the facts." Hamad Amar, a Druze member of parliament from the right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu party, insisted that the attack "does not reflect the true spirit of the Druze community in Israel, who are full partners in defending the country and its values." Nahid Khazem, the mayor of Shfaram, also stated that residents of the town were deeply shocked by the "heinous crime" that occurred in Haifa. "His extended family says he is mentally unstable, but I have no documents to confirm this," he told Haaretz.

No armed group has immediately claimed responsibility for the incident, but Hamas described the attack as a "heroic" act and a "natural response" to Israel's alleged crimes against Palestinians. The attack occurred as Hamas and Israel are deadlocked over advancing a ceasefire agreement for Gaza that has lasted six weeks. Israel halted aid entering Gaza after Hamas rejected what Netanyahu's office called an American proposal to extend the first phase, which ended on Saturday night. Hamas accused Israel of reneging on the agreement and stated that the second phase should proceed as agreed.