Hamas claims Tel Aviv shooting attack that killed seven
On Tuesday, Israeli police said 17 others had been wounded
Jerusalem: Hamas's armed wing claimed responsibility on Wednesday for the killing of seven people in a shooting and stabbing attack in Israel's commercial hub Tel Aviv the previous day.
The attack - one of the deadliest in the country since the October 7 Hamas onslaught - came as Iran fired about 200 missiles at Israel, sending hundreds of thousands of people into public shelters.
In a statement, the Ezzedine Al Qassam Brigades also named the attackers who managed to 'infiltrate into our occupied lands'.
Israel and Hamas have been at war in Gaza since October 7 when the Palestinian militant group carried out its attack on Israel that resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Israel's retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 41,689 people in Gaza, the majority of them civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry. The United Nations has said the figures are reliable.
Earlier on Wednesday, Israeli police said seven people had been killed in the Jaffa attack, with one of the victims succumbing to his wounds overnight.
On Tuesday, Israeli police said 17 others had been wounded.
Foreigners among dead
Police said the alleged assailants "began their killing spree when they entered the carriage of the light rail train that stopped at the station and fired at passengers".
They were armed with an assault rifle and a knife, and continued on foot until police 'neutralised' them, it added.
One of the attackers was shot dead and the other was seriously wounded, police added.
Overnight, the Israeli security agency and the army arrested several suspects in Hebron and Jerusalem believed to have aided the suspects.
Israeli media identified three of the dead as Israelis and one as Georgian. The others were Greek and Moldovan, their governments said.
The identity of the seventh victim has not been released.