Two Israeli settlers were killed in an alleged car-ramming and stabbing incident in northern occupied Pales-tine, and the suspected attacker was shot and wounded. Israeli medical services reported that a man aged about 68 was run over and a woman aged about 20 was stabbed, with both dying at the scene. Two other people reportedly sustained minor injuries. Israeli police said preliminary findings indicated the incident began in Beit Shean with a vehicle ramming a pedestrian, followed by a stabbing near Road 71, close to Afula.

Israeli authorities stated that the suspected attacker was a Pales-tinian from the occupied West Bank who was shot and wounded in Afula. Following confirmation of the suspect’s origin, Israeli Minister of Military Affairs Israel Katz ordered Israeli forces to launch an operation in the West Bank village of Qabatiya. Ham-as issued a statement describing the attack as a result of accumulated public anger and ongoing conditions under occupation, and warned that continued policies would have further consequences.

The incident occurred one day after a separate case in which an Israeli settler reportedly struck a Pales-tinian man who was praying by the roadside in the occupied West Bank. Violence has increased in the West Bank since the start of Israel’s war on Ga-za in October 2023, with Pales-tinian officials reporting over 1,100 Pales-tinians kil-led, nearly 11,000 injured, and about 21,000 detained by Israeli forces. In July 2024, the International Court of Justice ruled that Israel’s prolonged occupation of Pales-tinian territory was unlawful and called for the removal of settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.