Saturday 27 / December / 2025
A Palestinian man rammed his car into a man and then stabbed a young woman in northern Israel, killing both, police said on Friday.
In retaliation, Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz quickly ordered military action in what he said was the assailant's hometown in the occupied West Bank.
What do we know?
The attack began Friday afternoon in the northern city of Beit She'an, in the Jordan Valley.
Police said the Palestinian man crashed his vehicle into people, killing one man and injuring a teenage boy.
He then sped onto a highway, where he fatally stabbed the woman and injured another person near the entrance to the city of Afula.
Authorities said the alleged attacker, a 34-year-old Palestinian, was shot and is in a stable condition in the hospital.
The Israeli military said the suspect had "infiltrated into Israeli territory several days ago."
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said that he was shocked by the "horrific killing spree."
Katz orders retaliation by military in West Bank
Israeli police later said the attacker was a resident of Qabatiya and had taken his employer's vehicle to carry out the attack.
Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered the military to launch an operation in the northern West Bank city.
Katz said that he'd told troops to "act forcefully and immediately" against what he called "terrorist infrastructure" in the Qabatiya.
"Anyone who aids or sponsors terrorism will pay the full price, he said.
It's common practice for Israel to launch raids in Palestinian attackers' hometowns, which Israel defends as helping to locate militant infrastructure and preventing future attacks. Human rights watchdogs say these actions constitute collective punishment.
Later Friday, the military said its soldiers had launched an operation in Qabatiya.
Rising violence fuels West Bank tensions
Friday's attack took place just days after Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian teenager in the Qabatiya area.
The military has launched a probe after footage emerged showing the teenager not posing any threat or throwing anything at soldiers who shot him.
Friday's incident also came a day after an Israeli military reservist dressed in civilian clothes rammed his vehicle into a Palestinian man in the West Bank.
Social media footage purporting to show the incident shows the victim praying by the roadside when the ramming occurs.
More than a thousand Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank between October 7, 2023 and October 17, 2025, mostly in operations by security forces and some by settler violence, according to the UN. In the same period, 57 Israelis were killed in Palestinian attacks.
