Palestinian kills two in northern Israel: authorities

Israeli police and soldiers
The Israeli military says it is "preparing for an operation" in the West Bank town of Qabaitya. -AP

A Palestinian assailant has run over a man ​and stabbed a woman and killed them ⁠both in northern Israel Israeli emergency services say.

The assailant, from the occupied West Bank, was shot and wounded by a ‌civilian at ​the scene and taken to hospital, ‍the Israeli police said in a statement.

"This was a rolling terror attack," the police added.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said he had ​instructed the military to respond ‌forcefully in the West Bank town of Qabaitya, where he ​said the assailant came from, to ‍thwart any further attacks.

The Israeli military said it was "preparing for an operation" in the ​area.

The ​Israeli ambulance ​service said that a ​teenager was also hurt in the attack and that the man and woman were pronounced dead at the scene after medics were unable to resuscitate them.

On Thursday, the Israeli army said an Israeli reservist soldier rammed his vehicle into ‍a Palestinian man as he prayed on a roadside in the occupied West ​Bank after earlier firing shots in the area.

"Footage was received of an armed individual running over a Palestinian individual," the Israeli army said in a statement, adding the individual was a reservist and his military service had been terminated.

The reservist acted "in severe violation of ‌his authority" and ​his weapon had been confiscated, the military said.

Israeli media reported ‍that he was being held under house arrest.

The Palestinian man went to hospital for checks after the attack but was unhurt and is now at ​home.

Video which aired on Palestinian TV ‌and was verified by Reuters shows a man in civilian clothing with a gun slung ​over his shoulder driving an off-road vehicle into a man praying ‍on the side of the road.

This year ​was one of the most violent on record for Israeli civilian attacks against Palestinians in the ​West ​Bank, according to United Nations ​data that shows more than 750 injuries.

More ​than a thousand Palestinians were killed in the West Bank between October 7, 2023 and October 17, 2025, mostly in operations by security forces and some by settler violence, according to the UN.

In the same period, 57 Israelis were killed in Palestinian attacks.