Bedouin kills 1, wounds 10 in Beersheba terrorist attack

JERUSALEM – One person was killed and at least 10 others suffered varying degrees of wounds in what appears to be both a shooting and stabbing attack at Beesheba’s bus station on Sunday. Israel Border Police Cpl. Shira Chaya Suslik, 19, whom Magen David Adom first responders pronounced dead at the scene, is thought to be the only fatality from the attack so far. The perpetrator, a 29-year-old Bedouin man, was neutralized at the scene.

The reports about a terrorist event began to filter through at around 3 p.m. local time, although the details were not clear. Even the method of the attack – which now seems to be a combination of shooting and stabbing – was somewhat mysterious.

Shira Haya Susslik 19 is the Border police woman murdered in the terror attack in #Beersheba today.
May her memory be a blessing pic.twitter.com/wD0fVuNoX0

— #EBluemountain1 (@EBluemountain1) October 6, 2024

The Bedouin perpetrator, who was a resident of Ogbi, near Lakia, had a criminal record and an Israeli identity card. A relative of his was responsible for a 2015 terrorist attack in the same location. His actions have prompted some in the government to call for removing terrorists’ families from the country, despite having citizenship. Transportation Minister Miri Regev said the families of terrorists should be deported: “The time has come for a deterrent punishment that prevents attacks on Israeli territory,” she tweeted.

אני קוראת לגרש את משפחות המחבלים, הגיע הזמן לענישה מרתיעה בכדי למנוע את הפיגועים בשטח ישראל.

— מירי רגב (@regev_miri) October 6, 2024

Israel’s security services – including the IDF, Border Police, and Israel Police – are on heightened alert as there are fears terrorists will use the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 massacre to try and carry out atrocities.

This latest incident follows on from a horrific shooting attack at a light rail station in the ancient port city of Jaffa, carried out by two Hamas-inspired terrorists from Hebron, Judea. Armed with AR-15 style weapons – no doubt obtained as part of Iran’s mendacious attempt to flood Judea and Samaria with increasingly powerful and more easily smuggled firearms – they brutally executed several people at short range, including a mother, who died while shielding her infant from the hail of bullets. The child survived and was taken to a local hospital for treatment.

The situation in Judea and Samaria is one which has the potential to spiral out of control. Unofficially, the third intifada began in 2021, as terrorist groups, some affiliated with Hamas, and many of the beneficiaries of Iranian largesse began ratcheting up the violence against Israelis. The IDF attempted to keep a lid on things for approximately two years; however, the Oct. 7 attacks changed its mindset from defense to strong offense. As such, the IDF has taken the fight to terrorist cells and organizational infrastructure in Judea and Samaria, using limited operations, as well as drone and even airstrikes to eliminate so-called battalion leaders among others.