Suspected Palestinian ramming and knife attack in Israel kills two

Two people have been killed in a “rolling terror attack” in northern Israel, police said.

Police said the attacker ran over a pedestrian in the eastern city of Beit Shean, then continued driving before stabbing a woman near Ein Harod, about 8 miles (12.5 kilometers) to the west.

Officials said a 68-year-old man died in the impact, a 16-year-old boy was injured and the stabbing victim was an 18-year-old woman.

The suspect was eventually shot and wounded by a civilian outside the city of Afula, according to police.

The attack came a day after an Israeli reservist was fired after video emerged of him ramming a praying Palestinian with a quad bike.

Israel’s defense minister said the suspect in Friday’s attack was from the village of Kabatiya in the northern occupied West Bank.

Following the incident, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it was preparing to launch operations in the Kabatiya area. Defense Minister Israel Katz said he had instructed the Israel Defense Forces to “take immediate and forceful action.”

The IDF said the suspects “infiltrated into Israeli territory a few days ago.”

Israel’s Kan News public broadcaster said the 37-year-old man had been working illegally in Israel and used his employer’s vehicle in the attack.

The incident came a day after an Israeli reservist drove a quad bike into a Palestinian man who was praying on the side of the road in the occupied West Bank.

The video shows the man, wearing civilian clothes but armed with a gun, ramming the vehicle into the victim. The victim was not injured, reports said.

The Israeli military said the soldier, who had earlier opened fire in a nearby village, was shot and his weapons confiscated.

Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank have surged in recent years According to the United NationsSince Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, more than 1,000 people have lost their lives, including about 1,200 killed and 251 abducted to Gaza.

Since then, Israeli attacks on Gaza have killed more than 70,600 people, according to the region’s health ministry.

Additional reporting by Tom MacArthur