Israeli police say two dead after vehicle ramming and stabbing across multiple locations

Two people were killed in northern Israel on Friday in what authorities described as a “rolling terror attack” carried out by a Palestinian man from the occupied West Bank.

Israeli police said the attacker first rammed his vehicle into pedestrians in the eastern city of Beit Shean, killing 68‑year‑old Shimshon Mordechai and injuring a 16‑year‑old boy. He then drove several kilometres west before fatally stabbing 18‑year‑old Aviv Maor near Ein Harod.

The suspect was later shot and wounded by a civilian outside the city of Afula and taken into custody.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the attacker was a 37‑year‑old man from Qabatiya, a town in the northern West Bank. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the suspect had entered Israel illegally several days earlier and had been working without a permit, reportedly using his employer’s vehicle during the attack.

Following the incident, the IDF launched an operation in Qabatiya. Katz said he had ordered troops to act “forcefully and immediately” against what he described as terrorist infrastructure in the area.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed condolences to the victims’ families and praised the civilian who intervened to stop the attacker.

Incident follows separate ramming by Israeli reservist

The attack came a day after an Israeli army reservist was dismissed from service when video emerged showing him driving a quad bike into a Palestinian man who was praying on a roadside in the West Bank.  

The military said the reservist had also fired shots earlier in a nearby village. His weapon was confiscated, and he was removed from duty.

Rising violence in the West Bank

The United Nations has reported a sharp rise in settler attacks and clashes in the West Bank in recent years. More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in the territory since the Hamas attacks of 7 October 2023, while Israeli operations in Gaza have killed more than 70,600 people, according to Gaza’s health ministry.