An attacker in the Israeli-occupied West Bank killed two people Friday in a car and stabbing attack in northern Israel, Israeli authorities said. Police said a preliminary investigation had defined the action, in Israel’s Galilee region, as a terrorist act. This episode of violence comes against a backdrop of escalating tensions between Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank, while the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has invested for months in the crackdown against local activists, which has led to the displacement of tens of thousands of people.
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Police said a 68-year-old man was crushed to death in Beit Shean, near the Israel-Jordan border. Later, a 20-year-old woman was stabbed nearby. Magen David Adom, Israel’s emergency services, confirmed the deaths of the two people. According to the service, two other people were slightly injured.
A civilian shot the attacker, who was taken to hospital with moderate injuries, police said.
After the incident, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said he had decided that Israeli troops would adopt a tough response in Qabatiya in the West Bank, a town he said was behind the attack. The army also said it was “preparing for an operation” in the region.
The attack came a day after an Israeli armed forces reservist, who was in civilian clothes, ran his vehicle over a Palestinian who was praying on the side of a road in the West Bank after shooting in the area.
“Images were received showing an armed man crushing a Palestinian,” the Israeli military said in a statement about Thursday’s attack, adding that the reservist had already been discharged from military service. The Palestinian was taken to hospital for tests, then released and returned home.
Since October 7, 2023 – the date that marked the start of the Gaza war – more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank, the majority in operations by Israeli security forces and some in episodes of violence involving settlers, according to the United Nations. During the same period, 57 Israelis died in attacks by Palestinians. (With AFP and the New York Times)
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