Jaffa, Tel Aviv attack: Nova festival survivor, IDF reservist hailed as ‘hero’ after confrontation with gunmen

CNN
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An Israeli military reservist who survived the Nova festival massacre has been hailed as a “hero” by the country’s security minister for confronting two gunmen behind Tuesday’s shooting and stabbing attack in Tel Aviv.

Israeli police said seven people were killed and 16 injured in the attack on Jerusalem Boulevard in Jaffa, a port district in southern Tel Aviv.

The incident came just minutes before Iran launched a barrage of about 200 ballistic missiles into Israel, the largest attack of its kind ever, sending sirens blaring across the country and sending residents fleeing to bomb shelters.

In a video posted online, Lev Kreitman, who served as an Israeli military reservist in Gaza for six months, was seen firing a gun at an unknown target before running away. The footage was filmed from a nearby building in Jaffa and appears to show Kreitman wearing a pink shirt, white shorts and flip-flops.

In another video, Kreitman could be seen in the background among Israeli soldiers who were at the scene of the attack.

Speaking to CNN affiliate Channel 11, Kreitman said he carried his personal handgun after his time in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

Recalling Tuesday’s incident, he said he spotted what he described as “two terrorists,” one of whom was walking toward him.

“The other one goes somewhere else, runs somewhere else, and I’m here, right where we’re standing, I surprised him from the side, shoot,” Kreitman said, adding that he immediately understood it was an attack .

“I tried to do my best in this very crazy situation, amidst alarms, missiles and intercepts in the sky,” he said.

Kreitman survived the Hamas attack on the Nova music festival on October 7. The trance festival in the Negev Desert of southern Israel was a target of the militant group’s rampage that left about 1,200 people dead and 250 others kidnapped and taken to Gaza.

Israel’s subsequent war against Hamas in Gaza has killed more than 41,000 people, caused a humanitarian disaster and left much of the Palestinian enclave in ruins.

Police said on Wednesday that two gunmen began their “shooting spree” by opening fire on passengers in a light rail car that had stopped at a train station in Jaffa. According to police, they then continued their attack on foot on Jerusalem Boulevard.

The attackers were stopped by security forces and civilians who used personal weapons, police added. “They had in their possession an M-16 weapon, cartridges and a knife,” police said in a statement.

Paramedics said they treated the victims at several locations on Jerusalem Boulevard, including near train tracks, on the street, at a synagogue and at a butcher shop. The injured were taken to hospitals while air alerts sounded in the region and across Israel.

Israeli authorities identified the gunmen as Muhammad Mask, 19, who was killed at the scene, and Ahmed Himoni, 25, who was seriously injured. According to police, the two were residents of Hebron, a Palestinian city in the occupied West Bank.

Hamas later claimed responsibility for the attack.

After the incident, Israeli intelligence and IDF forces arrested a number of suspects who were accused of helping the gunmen buy weapons and enter Israel, according to police.

In a post on Ben-Gvir called for more Israelis to arm themselves.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the attack on Tuesday and expressed condolences to the families of those killed.