Israel raids homes of Islamic State suspects, arrests 2

Israeli security forces say they raided the homes of at least 12 Arab citizens and arrested two suspected of having ties to the Islamic State group, which claimed the killings of a pair of Israeli police officers over the weekend

TEL AVIV, Israel -- Israeli security services raided the homes of at least 12 Arab citizens and arrested two suspected of having ties to the Islamic State group in a crackdown sparked by recent deadly attacks, authorities said Tuesday.

Hours before the raid, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said the recent assaults inside Israel, which killed six people, marked a “new situation” that required stepped-up security measures.

Law enforcement officials said 31 homes and sites were searched overnight in northern Israel, an area that was home to the gunmen who killed two police officers and wounded four more people in the city of Hadera over the weekend.

The Islamic State group claimed Sunday's attack, as well as a stabbing rampage in southern Israel last Tuesday in which four people were killed. Police shot and killed the two gunmen, and the stabber was shot and killed by a passerby, police said.