At least one dead, 17 injured in suspected vehicular attacks in Israel | News


Police said two suspects from Hebron were arrested after the attacks in Ra’anana, near Tel Aviv.

At least one person was killed and 17 others injured in vehicular attacks in central Israel, according to police and medical authorities.

Israeli police said two Palestinian suspects from the occupied West Bank were arrested in connection with Monday’s attacks in the town of Ra’anana, north of Tel Aviv.

“The two suspects, residents of Hebron, who entered Israel illegally, are in custody,” police said on X.

In an earlier statement, police said two suspects stole vehicles and ran over a number of residents at different locations.

“An injured woman, who arrived in critical condition after being struck by a vehicle, died from her injuries despite our efforts to save her,” said a press release from the Meir Medical Center, near the scene of the attacks.

At least 17 other people were treated for injuries, two of them seriously, doctors at the Magen David Adom emergency department said.

Central District Police Chief Avi Biton told reporters in Ra’anana that the two men “went out together and in parallel, to two different locations, took two cars and launched a series of ramming attacks.”

Israeli television showed personal items strewn across a sidewalk and said several children were among the injured.

Israeli media identified the two suspects as Ahmed Zidat, 25, and Mahmoud Zidad, 44, both residents of the town of Bani Naim in the southern occupied West Bank near Hebron.

A family member of the suspects confirmed the two men were related and told Tel Aviv Tribune they were working in Israel before their work permits were revoked. Israeli authorities banned all Palestinian workers from the occupied West Bank from entering the country after the October 7 attack.

Since then, the two men have managed to return to Israel irregularly, their relative explained.

“They now expect their homes to be demolished, a common practice here in the occupied West Bank,” said Tel Aviv Tribune’s Hoda Abdel-Hamid. “But they also expect some form of collective punishment, such as the closure and isolation of the entire village for a certain period of time,” she added.

Pressure has intensified in Israel and across the occupied West Bank since October 7, when Hamas fighters launched an unprecedented attack in southern Israel, killing nearly 1,200 people and taking around 240 prisoners.

The attack triggered a brutal response from Israel, which has vowed to eliminate the armed group from the Gaza Strip in a military campaign that has killed more than 24,000 people.

Since then, violence has increased in the occupied West Bank, where Israeli forces carry out almost daily raids.

This led to the deaths of more than 300 people in the Palestinian territories occupied by Israeli forces and settlers, according to UN data.

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