TEL AVIV (Dispatches) --
At least three people were killed in an attack in an ultra-Orthodox town in central Israel on Thursday, as the occupying regime marked its day of coming to existence which Palestinians call the Nakba or catastrophe day.
A massive manhunt was underway to apprehend two suspects aged 19 and 20, Zionist authorities said Friday.
The occupying regime’s Magen David Adom emergency response service said the attack left seven casualties - including three dead, two in critical condition, one in moderate condition, and one in mild condition.
According to Israeli media, one of the attackers used a firearm and another attacker had an axe or a large knife.
Videos posted on social media showed ambulances rushing to the scene of the attack, along with medical staff attending to the wounded.
The attack in Elad, an ultra-Orthodox town some 30km east of Tel Aviv, comes amid a series of deadly operations in recent weeks.
A total of 14 Zionists have been killed in four separate shooting and stabbing attacks since March.
At least 50 Palestinians have been martyred so far this year by Israeli forces in the West Bank.
Thursday’s attack took place just days before the first anniversary of Israel’s large-scale military offensive on the besieged Gaza Strip.
Unrest spiked last May when the occupying regime of Israel tried to expel Palestinian families from Sheikh Jarrah, a neighborhood in occupied East Al-Quds to make way for settlers.
This prompted widespread protests across the occupied West Bank and the Palestinian community inside Occupied Palestine and led to the Israeli regime’s 11-day bombing campaign on Gaza.
Israel’s military operation martyred 256 Palestinians, including 66 children, according to the UN. In Occupied Palestine, 13 Zionists were killed by rockets launched from Gaza.
Israeli public security minister Omer Bar-Lev said Friday the regime suffered “a very heavy price” after the Thursday operation.
Bar-Lev said police, internal spy agency Shin Bet, and the army were chasing the assailants.
The occupying regime’s extremist prime minister Naftali Bennett also pledged to arrest those responsible for the operation, describing them as “saboteurs.” He said they would “pay the price” for their action.
Israeli security officials extended the closure on the West Bank and Gaza until next Sunday, war minister Benny Gantz added.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh dismissed Israeli threats, emphasizing that Palestinians are not afraid of such statements.
Haniyeh stressed that the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the occupied Old City of Al-Quds is a red line, and that Israeli attempts to divide time and space in the holy site between Muslims and Jews will not succeed.
Israeli threats to assassinate Hamas leaders will never stop members of the resistance group from defending Palestinian lands and sanctities and fighting for the return of Palestinian refugees to their homeland and release of all Palestinian prisoners from Israeli detention centers, he added.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said the Elad operation partly reflects the Palestinian nation’s wrath over repeated Israeli desecrations of their holy sites.
The Islamic Jihad resistance movement also praised the operation, calling it a victory for residents of the Israeli-occupied Al-Quds city.
The Palestinian group termed the desecration of Al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli forces and extremist Jewish settlers a declaration of war against the entire Palestinian nation, stating that Palestinians will continue to confront the occupiers and their aggression.
Osama Harb, an Islamic Jihad leader, said the Elad operation is strongly indicative of the Palestinians’ uprising to avenge ongoing Israeli crimes against holy sites.
“The Palestinian people are determined to restore their freedom and all their rights. They will continue their struggle until all Palestinian refugees return to their homeland,” he said.
The Islamic Jihad official stressed that Palestinians could not remain silent and indifferent in the face of the Israeli regime’s crimes and its violations of all red lines.

4,000 Settler Units Approved in West Bank

Israel is set to approve 4,000 housing units for illegal Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, the Zionist regime’s war ministry said on Friday.
The ministry said 1,452 units are expected to be built, while 2,536 are expected to be approved by war minister Gantz.
Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory are illegal under international law.
Right-wing parties hailed the decision. New Hope, a member of the coalition regime, said strengthening Jewish settlement was more crucial than ever.
Mossi Raz from the left-wing Meretz party responded said: “Approving over 3,000 units to be built in settlements in the occupied territories is immoral and harmful for the future citizens of Israel.”
On Thursday, the Zionist regime’s high court ruled for the eviction of 1,000 Palestinians from an area in the West Bank so that the land could be repurposed for the Israeli military and used as a “firing zone”.
Masafer Yatta, a 3,000-hectare rural area of the south Al-Khalil hills, is under Israeli occupation and home to multiple small Palestinian villages. However, the Zionist regime argued that the villagers living in the area were not permanent residents when the zone was declared in the 80s.