Two people were killed in a stabbing and ramming attack by a Palestinian in northern Israel, ?Israeli authorities said on Friday.
The ?assailant, from the occupied West Bank, was shot and wounded by a civilian at the scene and taken to hospital, the Israeli police said in a statement.
“This was a rolling terror attack,” the police added. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said he had instructed the military to ?respond forcefully in the West Bank ?town of Qabaitya, where he said the assailant came from, ?to thwart any further attacks. The Israeli military said it was “preparing for an operation” in the area. The Israeli ambulance service said that a teenager was also hurt in the attack and that a man and a woman were pronounced dead at the scene after medics were unable to resuscitate them
Israel first country to recognise Somaliland
Israel has become the first nation in the world to formally recognise Somaliland, marking a significant diplomatic breakthrough for the breakaway region in the Horn of Africa.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Friday that Israel and Somaliland had signed a joint declaration establishing full diplomatic relations, describing it as being “in the spirit of the Abraham Accords”, a set of deals brokered by the United States to establish formal ties between Israel and Arab states. Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991, but it has failed to gain recognition from any United Nations member state. The region controls the northwestern portion of what was once the British Protectorate in northern Somalia.
Somalia has never accepted Somaliland’s independence. A Somali government source told Al Jazeera that the cabinet was due to hold an urgent meeting on Friday evening to deliberate the government’s position on the issue.
Somalia’s Foreign Minister, Abdisalam Abdi Ali, participated in a call with the foreign ministers of Egypt, Turkiye, and Djibouti, during which they reiterated their support for Somalia’s unity. The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said the four countries’ top diplomats discussed how recognising the independence of a region within a sovereign country sets a “dangerous precedent” in violation of the UN Charter.