A Greek national is among the victims killed in a terrorist attack that occurred in Tel Aviv Tuesday evening, the country’s ministry of foreign affairs said in a statement.
Two gunmen opened fire in the Jaffa neighborhood of southern Tel Aviv, killing seven and injuring a dozen more. The perpetrators were subsequently killed.
According to the ministry statement: “We unequivocally condemn yesterday’s terrorist attack in the Jaffa area of Tel Aviv. With deep sorrow, we announce that among the victims of the attack is a Greek citizen, a resident of Jerusalem. We express our sincere condolences to the family and loved ones of the victim.”
The terrorist attack came just moments before Iran unleashed a barrage of ballistic missiles against targets inside Israel, including Israel’s secret services (Mossad) offices in Tel Aviv. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to retaliate in an address after the attack.
The victim was identified as Jonas Karousis, a resident of Jerusalem that hailed from the northern city of Thessaloniki and who was a student in Tel Aviv.
Karousis, along with members of his family, were recently in Greece and had vacationed in Halkidiki, in the north.
His father, Dimitris Karousis, emigrated from Thessaloniki to Israel in 1988, becoming a distinguished professor of neurology in Israel, while his mother, Rania, is also a physician in the country.
Speaking about his relationship with the Mideast country during an event at the Israeli embassy in Athens in 2014, Prof. Karousis, one of the few non-Jewish professors teaching at an Israeli medical school, stressed that scientific research was the main reasons he chose to live in Israel. He pointed specifically to pioneering work on therapies involving the use of stem cells.
