“It’s a very serious attack. “We are talking about terrorists who belong to the Islamic State,” Barlef told Military Radio after midnight on Sunday. “We are witnessing a worrying awakening that could happen in any country. “Police will be deployed in all areas,” he said. Barlef did not specify the relationship of the two gunmen to ISIS or identify them by name. Islamic State later claimed responsibility for a statement released by the Amaq propaganda website. Get the Times of Israel Daily E-mail and never miss our top stories By registering, you agree to the terms “Two members of the Jewish (state) police were killed and others wounded in a stormy commando attack,” IS said in a rare allegation of an attack in Israel. According to the SITE intelligence team, this is the first time since 2017 that IS has officially launched an attack on Israel. The Jewish media widely identified the two terrorists as Ayman and Ibrahim Ighbariah, cousins whom police said were residents of the central Arab city of Umm al-Fahm. Israeli police said the two arrived at the scene with 1,100 bullets, as well as at least three pistols and six knives. The two terrorists opened fire on police along Samuel Herbert Street in Hadera on Sunday night, Israeli police said. Two people were killed and several others injured before police fired on both Ighbariahs, according to police and doctors. Ibrahim, 31, was arrested in 2016 by Turkish police after trying to join the Islamic State jihadist group in Syria. He was later arrested by Israeli security forces and sentenced to a year and a half in prison for joining a terrorist group. Ibrahim Hassan Yussef Ighbariah was photographed in a Haifa district court on June 29, 2016, while on trial for trying to join the Islamic State in Syria. (Screenshot: Twitter) The alleged link to the Islamic State is linked to another recent terrorist attack by an Arab Israeli against Israeli civilians. Last Tuesday, Arab-Israeli Mohammad Ghaleb Abu al-Qi’an, a convicted terrorist from the Bedouin city of Hura in the Negev, killed four Israeli civilians in Beersheba, in the worst attack on Israeli civilians in six years. Abu al-Qi’an, who was also killed during the attack, was sentenced to four years in prison for plotting to join the fundamentalist Islamic State terrorist group in Syria. He was released in 2019. Ayman Ighbariah, Hadera’s second sniper, was arrested by Shin Bet in 2017 for illegal possession of weapons, according to the Haaretz newspaper. Israeli security forces are said to be investigating whether the two Hadera terrorists knew of Beersheba’s knife-maker, Abu al-Qi’an. The intertwined intellectuals… come unintentionally, carrying out Operation Hadera by Umm al-Fahm: cousins of martyrs Ayman Ahmed and Ibrahim Hassan Igbariya #Hadera pic.twitter.com/mvNF9YBmDt – Hala (@halakhalayleh) March 27, 2022 A video posted on social media allegedly shows the two Ighbariahs hugging in front of an Islamic State flag before Sunday’s attack. Could not independently verify the identities of the individuals in the video. The police officers entered UM Al Fam shortly after the shot to look for suspects. For more details, the mayor of Umm al-Fam, Samir Mohammed, told the Times of Israel that accurate information about the identities and history of the suspects was not yet available. The municipality of Umm al-Fahm condemned their actions. The bomber struck shortly after noon in front of a gathering of U.S., Bahraini, Moroccan and Egyptian foreign ministers, along with the US Secretary of State and the Israeli Foreign Minister – at the Negev Summit in Sde Boker. All participants in the summit condemned the attack. The IS chief – who once ruled millions of people in parts of Syria and Iraq – was declared defeated on March 23, 2019. However, IS executives continue to carry out attacks around the world. Earlier this month, IS confirmed the death of Abu Ibrahim al-Qurashi’s leader and appointed Abu Hasan al-Hashemi al-Qurashi as his successor. The announcement came more than a month after the Islamic State leader was killed during a US-led invasion that saw a commando helicopter enter a rival jihadist-held area in northwestern Syria. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist groups have hailed the shootings as a “natural response” to a “humiliation summit”. Tensions have risen between Israel and the Palestinians in recent weeks in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Ten Palestinians have been killed in violent clashes with Israeli troops: some have been killed in fighting with Israeli troops in the West Bank, while others have been killed in attempted attacks. Last weekend, two police officers were injured in a suspected knife attack in the Ras al-Amud district of East Jerusalem, and an Israeli man was stabbed and slightly injured while jogging on Hebron Street in Jerusalem. Earlier this month, several attacks took place in the Old City of Jerusalem and a nearby West Bank city. AFP contributed to this report Do you appreciate the Times of Israel? If so, we have a request. Every day, our journalists aim to keep you informed of the most important developments that deserve your attention. Millions of people rely on ToI for fast, fair and free coverage of Israel and the Jewish world. We are interested in Israel – and we know you care. 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