Tragic Ramming and Stabbing Attack Claims Two Lives in Israel

Sat Dec 27 2025 17:04:28 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

A suspect perpetrates a 'rolling terror attack' resulting in the deaths of two individuals in northern Israel, heightening tensions amid ongoing conflict.

In a shocking attack in northern Israel, two individuals were killed as a suspect executed a 'rolling terror attack,' involving a vehicle ramming followed by a stabbing. Police report that the attacker targeted pedestrians in Beit Shean and Ein Harod before being subdued by a civilian. The incident has sparked further concerns over escalating violence in the region, as tensions rise following recent events involving Israeli forces and Palestinian civilians.

Two people have been killed in what police say was a 'rolling terror attack' in northern Israel.

Police said the attacker ran over a pedestrian in the eastern city of Beit Shean, then drove on before stabbing a woman near Ein Harod, about 8 miles (12.5 km) to the west. The suspect was eventually shot and wounded by a civilian outside the city of Afula, according to police.

Shimshon Mordechai, a 68-year-old man, was killed and a 16-year-old boy was hurt in Friday's ramming, officials said, while the stabbing victim was Aviv Maor, aged 18.

A day before the attack, an Israeli reservist was fired after video emerged of him ramming a praying Palestinian with a quad bike.

The suspect in the attack came from the village of Qabatiya, in the northern occupied West Bank, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said.

Following the incident, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it was preparing to carry out an operation in the Qabatiya area. Katz said he had instructed the IDF to act 'forcefully and immediately.'

The IDF said the suspect had 'infiltrated into Israeli territory several days ago.'

Israel's Kan News public broadcaster reported that the 37-year-old man had been working illegally in Israel and had used his employer's vehicle in the attack.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his 'deepest condolences' to the victims' families, and praised 'the heroic citizen who neutralised the terrorist.'

The incident follows heightened tensions in the region, exacerbated by various violent confrontations, including another recent incident where an army reservist allegedly attacked a Palestinian man.

Attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians have surged in recent years, according to the United Nations, with more than a thousand killed since the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023.

More than 70,600 people have reportedly been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.