A Palestinian man kills 2 in car-ramming and stabbing attack in northern
Israel and injures 2 others
[December 27, 2025]
By JULIA FRANKEL
JERUSALEM (AP) — A Palestinian attacker rammed his car into a man and
then stabbed a young woman in northern Israel on Friday afternoon,
killing both, police said. The Israeli military swiftly launched an
operation in the assailant's hometown in the occupied West Bank.
The attack started in the northern city of Beit Shean when the
Palestinian man rammed his vehicle into people, killing one man and
injuring a teenage boy. He then drove off onto a highway, where he
fatally stabbed the woman, and injured another person near the entrance
to the city of Afula.
Authorities say the attacker was shot and injured in Afula. He was then
taken to hospital; his condition was not immediately known.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu identified the victims as Aviv
Maor, a teenager, and Shimshon Mordechai, 68. Paramedics pronounced both
dead at the scene.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said that 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.”
The military enters attacker's hometown
Israel's military soon began amassing troops near the Palestinian town
of Qabatiya, where Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that the
assailant was from. Later Friday, the military said that it conducted a
“precise operational search at the residence” of the attacker, together
with intelligence forces, and was preparing to demolish the residence.
The operation was ongoing in the area, the military said later in the
evening.
Israeli forces blocked several roads around the town, where they entered
several houses and positioned themselves around the attacker’s home,
said the mayor, Ahmad Zakarneh. He added that residents had stocked up
on supplies from bakeries and supermarkets after they were notified of
the impending military operation.
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.
A history of raids
It's common practice for Israel to launch raids in the West Bank towns
that attackers come from or demolish homes belonging to the assailants’
families. Israel says that it helps to locate militant infrastructure
and prevents future attacks. Rights watchdogs describe such actions as
collective punishment.
Raids have been conducted in the area of Qabatiya, which is in the
northern West Bank near the major city of Jenin, over the last few
weeks.
On Dec. 20, Israel's military said that they killed a person in Qabatiya
who “hurled a block toward the soldiers.” It later said that the killing
was under review, after Palestinian media aired brief security footage
in which the youth appears to emerge from an alley and is shot by troops
as he approaches them without throwing anything.
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In this photo released by Israel Police on Friday, Dec. 26, 2025,
Israeli police officers work on the site where a vehicle was used,
according to the authorities, during a suspected ramming and
stabbing attack in Afula, northern Israel. (Israel Police via AP)
The Israel-Hamas war, which began with the Hamas-led attack in
southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 that killed about 1,200 people and
saw 251 taken hostage, has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians
in Gaza. It has also sparked a surge of violence in Israel and the
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.
Recognizing Somaliland
In a separate development, Israel on Friday became the first country
to recognize Somaliland, the breakaway region of Somalia in East
Africa.
It wasn't known why Israel made the declaration now or whether it
was expecting something in return.
Earlier this year, U.S. and Israeli officials told The Associated
Press that Israel had approached Somaliland about taking in
Palestinians from Gaza as part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan
at the time to resettle that territory’s population. The United
States has since abandoned that plan.
Netanyahu's office said on Friday that he, Israeli Foreign Minister
Gideon Saar, and Somaliland's president, Abdirahman Mohamed
Abdullahi, signed a joint and mutual declaration “in the spirit of
the Abraham Accords.”
That's the project that, starting in 2020, established commercial
and diplomatic ties between Israel and several Arab and
Muslim-majority countries — and that Trump sees as key to his plan
for bringing long-term stability to the Middle East.
Somaliland, a territory of more than 3 million people in the Horn of
Africa, seceded from Somalia more than three decades ago, but it has
not been internationally recognized as an independent state by any
country until now.
The foreign ministry of Egypt — a major mediator in the Israel-Hamas
war — said on social media that it rejects Israel’s recognition of
Somaliland and stressed full support for Somalia’s sovereignty,
unity and territorial integrity.
The U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement in the Israel-Hamas war
specifies that Palestinians won't be expelled from Gaza.
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Omar Faruk contributed to this report from Mogadishu, Somalia.
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