The Palestinian resistance movements Hamas and Islamic Jihad have hailed an anti-Israeli operation in the northern occupied territories as a justified response to ongoing Israeli aggression. In a statement released on Monday, 3 March, Hamas described the attack as a "natural response to the occupation’s continued crimes against our people in the West Bank, Gaza, and Jerusalem."

The group condemned Israel’s "escalating killings, destruction, and forced displacement in refugee camps across the northern West Bank," as well as the "suffocating siege on Gaza, plans to ethnically cleanse the Jordan Valley, and the ongoing desecration of Al-Aqsa Mosque."

The operation, which took place at a central bus station in Haifa, left two people dead and six others wounded, two critically. Israeli forces killed the individual responsible for the attack. Eyewitnesses reported chaotic scenes, including Israeli forces mistakenly shooting an Israeli settler they believed to be an assailant.

Hamas reiterated its commitment to resistance, stating, "The struggle will continue until the liberation of our land and holy sites, the expulsion of the occupier, and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital." The group called on Palestinians across the occupied territories to "escalate confrontations with the enemy and engage in resistance by all possible means."

In a similar statement, Islamic Jihad praised the "heroic operation" in Haifa, describing it as a "natural response to the crimes, genocide, and war crimes committed by the criminal entity and its settlers against our people." The group emphasized that such actions reaffirm the Palestinian people’s commitment to their land, homeland, and the path of resistance.

Islamic Jihad also asserted that Israel’s military campaigns aim solely at "repression, abuse, and massacres," adding that the determination of Palestinians to resist proves the failure of Israel’s security apparatus to achieve its "illusory sense of security."

The Haifa attack is the latest in a series of anti-Israeli operations in the occupied territories. On 27 February, over a dozen Israeli settlers were injured in a car-ramming attack, while earlier bus explosions in Bat Yam, near Tel Aviv, spread fear among settlers and disrupted the city. These incidents follow 16 months of Israeli aggression in Gaza and the West Bank.

Israeli officials have suggested that the bus explosions may be linked to Tulkarem in the occupied West Bank. In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the military to conduct an "intensive operation" in the region. Since January, at least 40,000 Palestinians have been displaced from Jenin and nearby Tulkarem due to Israeli military actions.