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A drive-by shooting at three locations in central Israel's South Sharon area on Sunday killed one man and wounded five others, with security forces killing the identified attacker, Omar Yassin, 21, an Arab Israeli from Tayibe, during a subsequent manhunt.
Hamas praised the attack, as far-right Israeli ministers made inflammatory public statements about Arab Israeli citizens.
The attack, carried out near the occupied West Bank and close to where Israeli settlers and Palestinian communities border each other, prompted a security deployment across central Israel, closures of West Bank checkpoints near Tulkarem and Qalqilya, and sharp political statements from far-right ministers calling for the death penalty and "profound change" among Arab Israelis.
Israel's Magen David Adom (MDA) said emergency services were called at 10:34 a.m. local time to three locations: a gas station near Kochav Ya'ir, Tzur Yitzhak and Tzur Natan. A man approximately 35 years old was pronounced dead after suffering gunshot wounds.
Two people aged approximately 40 were in serious condition.
A 61-year-old woman and two men in their thirties were in moderate condition.
All were evacuated to Meir and Beilinson hospitals.
MDA medic Lior Zilberberg said his team was in a nearby training exercise when reports came in. "During the drive, civilians signaled 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 assessments, we were forced to pronounce him dead," Zilberberg said.
Eyewitness Shachar Hazon, 27, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) she was on her way to work when she heard gunfire and took shelter in a cafe at the Kochav Ya'ir gas station. "I heard a single gunshot, really loud, so loud it actually hurt my ears," she said.
"I looked right and left to understand what was happening, and I saw a man who had just come to refuel, holding his shoulder, because apparently that's where he was hit, and after a few seconds, he fell to the ground."
The Israeli army's Chief of the General Staff conducted a situation assessment and issued directives for continuation following the attack
"The Chief of the General Staff, Maj. Gen. Eyal Zamir, is currently conducting a telephonic situation assessment with the commander of Central Command, Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, during a tour in the Gaza Strip, together with the commander of Southern Command, Maj. Gen. Yaniv Asor, and the commander of the Gaza Division, Brig. Gen. Liron Betito," the Israeli army said in a statement on X.
"As part of the situation assessment, the Chief of the General Staff received an initial situational picture on the details of the attack and issued directives for the continuation of operational activity," the statement added.
Police Commissioner Danny Levy confirmed the attacker was a Palestinian citizen of Israel, or Arab Israeli, from Tayibe and said the suspect had a criminal record.
Israeli media, including Haaretz, Ynet, and The Jerusalem Post, identified the attacker as Omar Yassin, 21. The suspected vehicle, carrying illegal Israeli license plates, was located by security forces.
Initial reports of a second suspect were walked back. The Times of Israel cited police as confirming that only one person was involved, and that earlier Israeli army reports of a second attacker "appear to be erroneous and likely refer to the first terrorist."
Israeli police on Telegram confirmed the killing of one attacker and said "extensive searches for potential accomplices" were ongoing.
Israeli army Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir conducted a telephone situational assessment while touring the Gaza Strip and issued directives for the continuation of operations in the West Bank. Israeli soldiers were deployed to the attack sites and to a nearby West Bank settlement. Israeli forces also closed checkpoints at entrances to Tulkarem and set up a temporary checkpoint near Qalqilya.
One attacker deployed a makeshift "Carlo," also known as a Carl Gustav, submachine gun, according to an image from the scene.
Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said at the scene: "The law on the death penalty for terrorists also applies to Israeli Arabs. If he had been captured, I would have demanded that he be executed. But it is better that he was eliminated beforehand."
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich wrote on social media: "The heinous attack this morning in the heart of the Sharon is a blood-soaked wake-up call for the profound change that must occur among Israel's Arabs," claiming a "dangerous and extremist terrorist hotbed" was growing in the Arab Israeli community.
Hamas praised the attack in a statement, calling it a response to "ongoing aggression against Gaza and the continued crimes of Judaisation, extrajudicial killings, settlement expansion, raids, and daily attacks against our people in the West Bank and Jerusalem."
The group did not claim responsibility for the attack.
"The occupation, no matter how far it goes in its oppression and crimes, will not succeed in stopping the rise of resistance in the valiant West Bank," the statement said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said he "held a situational assessment and is monitoring the deadly shooting attack."
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