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Warning: The article contains a graphic video of the attack. Discretion is advised.
Police reported Monday that they received a report of a suspected shark attack at the beach in the northern city of Hadera, with emergency service Magen David Adom (MDA) reporting a similar call was received by teams as well.
"A short while ago, officers from the Hadera police station and the marine unit were dispatched to the Hadera stream following a report by individuals who claimed to have seen a shark attacking a diver in the water," police said in a statement. As of now, the diver has not been located.
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Footage of the shark attack off the coast of Hadera
Following the reports, the Hadera Municipality’s beach division launched a search operation using a jet ski. "We’re scanning the area to locate the diver and will update as needed," the city said. "We urge the public to avoid entering the water and to keep a safe distance from the sharks."
The report comes days after two female dusky sharks (Carcharhinus obscurus) — a species considered harmless to humans — were spotted swimming off the coast of Beit Yanai, not far from Hadera. A graphic video of the alleged attack has surfaced online.
"I suddenly noticed two shadows in the water," said Yehuda Zimbris, who filmed the Beit Yanai encounter. "I started recording and saw they were sharks. They got within 50–100 meters (164–328 feet) of the shoreline, which caused panic among swimmers.
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"Still, some tried to approach them despite the lifeguard’s clear orders to get out of the water. The sharks moved from south to north, did a sort of 'dance,' and eventually disappeared."
Each winter, dozens of sharks gather at the mouth of the Hadera stream, drawn by the warm water discharged from the nearby Orot Rabin power plant. The area is frequented by dusky sharks — rare in the Mediterranean — and the endangered sandbar shark. The spectacle draws many visitors to Hadera River Park, some of whom enter the water alongside the sharks despite repeated warnings from authorities.
If confirmed, this would be only the fourth documented shark attack in Israel in the past 80 years. In 1946, a British police officer was seriously injured by a great white shark in Tel Aviv. In 1974, a German student was attacked near Eilat. And in 2013, a young man working in offshore fish cages 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) from the Ashdod coast suffered a partial arm amputation after being bitten.