Drive-by shooting across central Israel kills one, wounds five; suspected gunman shot dead by police

The attack sequence

A series of shootings unfolded on Sunday morning across three locations in central Israel, near the boundary with the occupied West Bank. The first shots were reported at a gas station at the entrance to Kochav Yair, northeast of Tel Aviv, where a 50-year-old man was seriously wounded and a 30-year-old man sustained moderate injuries. The gunman, firing from a moving vehicle, then drove roughly two kilometres to Tzur Yitzhak, wounding a 30-year-old man in the hand and a 61-year-old woman in the upper body while she sat inside her car.

The third site was Route 5333 near the locality of Selait, where paramedics found a man already dead from gunshot wounds inside his vehicle and another person with a serious upper-body injury. The Magen David Adom ambulance service confirmed the deceased was a 35-year-old man. Two of the five wounded were listed in serious condition, with one taken directly to an operating room.

During the drive, civilians signalled me to stop and called me to provide medical treatment to an unconscious casualty inside a vehicle. He was pulseless and not breathing, with gunshot wounds to his body, and after medical assessment we were forced to declare him dead.

The suspected gunman

Israeli police identified the suspected attacker as an Israeli Arab from the nearby city of Tayibe. Officers located his vehicle and shot him dead, recovering a firearm in his possession. Israeli media reported that a second suspect was also killed, though the army and police later told the Spanish news agency EFE that there was "only one terrorist." Police chief Danny Levi was cited in media reports confirming a single attacker, while searches for any additional suspects continued. A security cordon was imposed on several neighbouring Arab villages, and a raid campaign was launched in Tayibe by the internal security agency and police.

Official response

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a situational assessment and was following the "murderous shooting attack" closely, his office said. Hardline Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for a "profound change" among Israel's Arab community, describing it as a "dangerous and extremist breeding ground for terrorism that seeks to destroy the State of Israel." Israeli soldiers were deployed to one of the attack sites and to a nearby Israeli settlement in the West Bank. Large police forces remained at the scene, with authorities urging the public to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity.

Hamas reaction

Hamas praised the attack as a "heroic operation" but did not claim responsibility. In a statement, the Palestinian militant group said the shooting was a response to ongoing Israeli actions against Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and Jerusalem. The attacks took place near the Palestinian city of Qalqilya, in an area that has seen repeated attacks by Palestinians in recent years.