Palestinian man kills 2 in car-ramming and stabbing attack in northern Israel, police say

JERUSALEM (AP) — A Palestinian attacker rammed his car into a man and then stabbed a young woman in northern Israel Friday, killing both, police said, as the Israeli defense minister quickly ordered military retaliation on what he said was the attacker’s West Bank hometown.

The attack began Friday afternoon in the northern city of Beit Shean, where the Palestinian man crashed his vehicle into people, killing one man and injuring a teenage boy. He then sped onto a highway, where he fatally stabbed the woman, said police. The man was 68 and the woman, 18, said paramedics, who pronounced both dead at the scene.

The attacker was headed for the nearby city of Afula when a security officer shot him, Israeli President Isaac Herzog said.

Herzog said he was shocked by the “horrific killing spree.” He said that Israel was “committed to reinforcing and strengthening this challenging border and, of course, to bolstering the security response in the area for the full safety of the residents.”

Israel’s military soon after began amassing troops near the Palestinian town of Qabatiya, where Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that the attacker was from.

Katz said that he’d ordered troops to “act forcefully and immediately” against what he called “terrorist infrastructure” in the town.

“Anyone who aids or sponsors terrorism will pay the full price,” he said.

It’s common practice for Israel to launch raids in the West Bank towns that attackers come from or demolish homes belonging to the attackers’ families. Israel says that it helps to locate militant infrastructure and prevents future attacks. Rights watchdogs describe such actions as collective punishment.

The Israel-Hamas war in Gaza has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and sparked a surge of violence in Israel and the occupied West Bank, with a rise in attacks by Palestinian militants as well as Israeli settler violence against Palestinians.

In September, Palestinian attackers opened fire at a bus stop during the morning rush hour in Jerusalem, killing six people and wounding another 12, according to Israeli officials.