Gunman kills one and wounds five in several drive-by attacks in Israel

A gunman in a car opened fire at three locations in Israel close to the border with ⁠the occupied West Bank on Sunday, killing one man and wounding several other people, Israeli authorities said.

The police said they killed the suspected gunman following a brief pursuit and recovered the firearm and vehicle used in the shootings, which took place in and ⁠around Kochav Yair, inside Israel close to ​the ⁠West Bank city of Qalqilya.

A second suspect was later arrested after he “made statements suggesting involvement in the attack”, the police said, without giving ⁠details of his alleged role. He tried to assault officers with a ​glass ⁠bottle when he was arrested.

The attack came at a time of heightened tensions following a spate of Israeli settler attacks, and the deadly shooting of a Palestinian baby over the weekend, in the nearby West Bank.

“This ‌morning, a heinous terrorist went out, reached Kochav Yair, and unfortunately managed, before being eliminated, to murder an Israeli citizen and injure others,” Prime Minister Benjamin ‌Netanyahu said, praising the police officers.

President Isaac ‌Herzog said he was “shocked by the horrific terror attack”, offering sympathy for the family of the slain victim and prayers for a swift recovery for the wounded.

Police said the man who ⁠was killed by the gunman was a 35-year-old civilian. Israel’s ambulance service said five other people were wounded, two of them seriously, in drive-by shootings at three locations.

The gunman was identified by police as in his twenties and a resident of Tayibe, a nearby Israeli city mainly populated by Arab citizens of Israel.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. Palestinian militant ‌group Hamas praised the shootings but did not claim responsibility.

Following the ​shootings, Israeli soldiers were deployed to one of the sites in ‌central Israel and to a nearby ⁠Israeli settlement in the West Bank, the military said in a ⁠statement.

Hardline Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for a “profound change” among Israeli Arabs, who comprise around ‌20% of Israel’s population. ​A “dangerous and extremist breeding ground for terrorism ‌is growing that seeks to destroy ​the State of Israel,” he said.

The security minister posts video reportedly with dead gunman

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the security forces who killed the attacker, while Israel’s hard-line public security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, who oversees the police force, released a video of himself standing next to what appeared to be a blurred out image of the dead gunman.

“This is the end of every terrorist, this is how it should look,” said Ben-Gvir, who recently led an effort to pass a new law that seeks to impose the death penalty on Palestinian attackers. That law now faces legal challenges.

Ben-Gvir has come under sharp condemnation from other Israeli leaders for making controversial videos, such as his treatment of flotilla activists who were detained after attempting to break the maritime blockade to Gaza.

The West Bank has experienced a surge in deadly violence since the war in Gaza began in October 2023. Israel has stepped up military operations across the territory, killing hundreds of people. It says the raids are aimed at militants, but scores of civilians have also been killed.

Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 as hostages. Israel’s ensuing offensive in Gaza has killed more than 72,000 Palestinians, including combatants and civilians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Strike kills 4 in Gaza

Also on Sunday, at least four Palestinians were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.

The strike hit a police point in the southern city of Khan Younis. The four dead were taken to a field hospital run by the Red Crescent, the charity said. At least 10 others were wounded, it said.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the strike but has said in the past it will target militants that pose a threat to its troops.