Israeli soldiers at the scene, Photo: Reuters
A 35-year-old man was killed and five other people were injured in a series of shootings that took place today in central Israel, near the occupied West Bank, and which the police described as a suspected terrorist attack, Reuters reports.
The police spokesman announced that the suspected attacker, an Israeli Arab from the nearby Israeli town of Tayiba, was also killed, and that a firearm was found in his possession. Israeli media reported that another suspect was also killed.
“A large police force is still on the scene, and the search continues,” the police said in an earlier statement, urging citizens to be careful.
Local media identified the murdered 35-year-old as an Israeli citizen.
Israeli soldiers deployed
Israel’s emergency services said the man died of gunshot wounds. The incident was described as a shooting from a moving vehicle, in which five other people were injured at three nearby locations, two of whom sustained serious injuries.
Police said they found a vehicle suspected of being used in the attack.
The shootings took place near the Palestinian city of Qalqilya in the West Bank. The Palestinian militant group Hamas praised the attack but did not claim responsibility for it.
The Israeli army announced that soldiers were deployed at one of the sites of the attack in central Israel, as well as in a nearby Israeli settlement in the West Bank.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he was aware of the situation.
Israel’s finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, known for his hard-line views, called for a “profound change” within the Arab community in Israel, stating that it represents a “dangerous and extremist breeding ground for terrorism that is growing and seeks to destroy the State of Israel.”
Beta Agency reported that the Israeli rescue service “Magen David Adom” (MDA) announced that at least one person was killed and six were wounded in several shootings near the occupied West Bank.
The MDA said it received the first reports of gunfire at a gas station near the town of Kokav Yair, located on the Israeli side of the border with the West Bank, around 10:30 a.m.
Shortly thereafter, several more reports of gunfire were received, including one inside the West Bank, on the other side of the border.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said Israeli forces fired on a car in the West Bank over the weekend that it said was speeding toward soldiers, killing a seven-month-old Palestinian boy and wounding his parents.
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