Israeli police said in a statement that initial investigations indicate the attack began with a pedestrian being run over in the city of Beit She'an, before the perpetrator stabbed a young woman on Highway 71.
She added that “the operation ended with the neutralization of the suspect near the student housing intersection in the city of Afula, after a passerby shot him,” noting that the perpetrator is a Palestinian from the West Bank, and was taken to the hospital, where his condition was described as moderate, while investigations are still ongoing.
For its part, the Magen David Adom (MDA) ambulance service announced the death of an Israeli man who was run over on Hashomeron Street in Beit She'an, succumbing to multiple injuries throughout his body. It also reported the death of an Israeli woman who was stabbed on Highway 71, as a result of penetrating injuries.
For its part, the Hebrew Broadcasting Authority said that two Israelis were moderately and slightly injured in the incident, after it had reported in an initial tally that six people were injured.
She added that the perpetrator was from the town of Qabatiya near Jenin in the northern West Bank, and had arrived in the area several days earlier, without disclosing further details.
Following the operation, Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz instructed his staff to "act forcefully and immediately" against the town of Qabatiya, from which the perpetrator originated, according to a statement issued by his office.
In this context, Hamas issued a statement saying that “the double operation that took place in Afula, in northern occupied Palestine, comes as an expression of the accumulated popular anger, and as a result of the daily crimes of the occupation, the ongoing massacres against the Palestinian people, and the escalation of policies of killing, displacement, settlement and Judaization in Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.”
The movement affirmed that “resistance in all its forms is a legitimate right guaranteed by international law and humanitarian principles for peoples living under occupation,” warning Israel against “the consequences of continuing its aggressive policies.” It stressed that attempts to break the will of the Palestinians “are doomed to failure.”
Hamas called on Palestinians to strengthen their unity and resilience, and demanded that the international community assume its responsibilities and work to stop Israeli violations and hold Tel Aviv accountable for its crimes.
The incident comes at a time when the Israeli occupation army has been conducting a large-scale military operation in the northern West Bank since January 21, 2025, which included the Jenin, Nur Shams and Tulkarm camps, and resulted in widespread destruction of infrastructure and the displacement of about 50,000 Palestinians, according to official data.
Since the outbreak of the Israeli war of extermination on the Gaza Strip on October 8, 2023, at least 1,103 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by the bullets of the Israeli occupation army and settlers, and about 11,000 others have been injured, in addition to the arrest of more than 21,000 Palestinians.
Israel is also escalating its policies aimed at annexing the West Bank, through house demolitions, displacement of Palestinians, and settlement expansion, according to Palestinian authorities, which threatens to eliminate the possibility of implementing the two-state solution stipulated in UN resolutions.
