A suspect rammed a truck into a bus stop near the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, injuring at least 35 people in what local authorities are investigating as a possible terror attack, according to reports, with one victim dying of his injuries.

In the city of Ramat Hasharon, in the area of Glilot northeast of Tel Aviv, the truck slammed into a bus that had stopped to drop off passengers, as Israelis were returning to work after a week-long holiday. 

The bus stop is near an army base and the headquarters of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency. 

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Some victims were left trapped under the truck. Civilians shot and killed the truck driver, who allegedly got out with a knife, Tazpit Press Service (TPS), an international Israeli news agency, reported.  

The Ichilov Medical Center in Tel Aviv announced later on Sunday that one person injured in the attack died, TPS reported.

The truck driver was a resident of the Israeli-Arab town of Qalansawe, police sources told TPS. 

Hamas and the Islamic Jihad terrorist group praised the suspected attack but did not claim it, according to the Associated Press. TPS reported that many of those hurt were elderly retirees who were traveling to a museum. At least one victim sustained life-threatening injuries, according to TPS. 

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Also near the scene are several army intelligence units that have been targeted by missile strikes from the Lebanese-based terrorist group Hezbollah. 

A suspected terror attack took place near Tel Aviv, leaving dozens hurt.  (Shimon Baruch/TPS-IL)

Iran’s supreme leader, meanwhile, said Israeli strikes on the country over the weekend “should not be exaggerated nor downplayed,” while stopping short of calling for retaliation, suggesting Iran is carefully weighing its response to the attack.

On Saturday, Israeli warplanes attacked military targets in Iran in response to an Iranian ballistic missile attack earlier this month.

Israeli emergency responders at the scene of a suspected terror attack north of Tel Aviv on Oct. 27, 2024. More victims are trapped beneath the truck.  (Nadav Goldstein/TPS-IL)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that the strikes “severely harmed” Iran and achieved all of Israel’s goals.

“The air force struck throughout Iran. We severely harmed Iran’s defense capabilities and its ability to produce missiles that are aimed toward us,” Netanyahu said in his first public comments on the strikes.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

There were various issues with the electoral process during last night’s elections in Georgia, according to a Western delegation of observers co-ordinated by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

Whilst members said that voting on election day was generally well-organised, they pointed to a tense and pressured environment pre-election day as well as several instances of intimidation and procedural inconsistencies during the day itself.

“During our observation, we noted cases of vote-buying and double-voting before and during elections, especially in rural areas” Iulian Bulai, head of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe delegation, said.

He added that the presence of cameras inside polling stations added to a climate of pressure and that an observer from his delegation found their car vandalised when carrying out assessments.

Georgian Dream declared they had a majority after hours of voting yesterday based on data from the country’s electoral commission. Opposition parties have fiercely disputed the results, claiming the election was “rigged.”

In 24% of cases analysed by a delegation from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights voter secrecy was found to be compromised.

Antonio Lopez-Isturiz White, who represented a group of observers from the European Parliament, pointed to a tense and highly polarised environment for voters saying, “Although, outwardly, the campaign was quite subdued, there were signs that efforts were underway to undermine and manipulate the vote.”

Observers pointed to an uneven playing field, with the incumbent Georgian Dream party having significantly more financial resources in the run-up to the election.

They said although there was clear political bias across all domestic media outlets in Georgia, significantly more time on-screen time was dedicated to the ruling party before voting started.

“There were reports of misuse of public resources and administrative capacity for the benefit of the ruling party. Pressure exerted on civil servants to participate in campaign events and vote,” Lopez-Isturiz White said.

He added that there was evidence that institutions such as the newly established Anti-Corruption Bureau were being “instrumentalised for political purposes.”

The OSCE said that 529 observers were deployed across Georgia, including a delegation of 12 from the European Parliament.

The observers analysed the environment before the election, including media coverage of election campaigns, as well as procedures that took place on the day itself.

The delegation declined to answer questions on how its findings would impact the formation of a new government in Georgia, but confirmed they would be preparing separate reports and monitoring the post-election environment.

Their findings are likely to add fuel to Georgia’s opposition parties, who have contested the results of the country’s electoral commission which found Georgian Dream to be within a comfortable majority.

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Georgian Dream have denied reports that the election was rigged. Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said following results, “The Georgian people made the only choice for which there was no alternative; they chose peace and the country’s development, its bright, European future.”

European leaders have been relatively quiet about congratulating the ruling party, with Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orbán congratulating Georgian Dream in a post on X.