Palestinian man with Israeli citizenship opens fire in central Israel, killing 1 and wounding 5

By — Melanie Lidman, Associated Press Melanie Lidman, Associated Press Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/palestinian-man-with-israeli-citizenship-opens-fire-in-central-israel-killing-1-and-wounding-5 Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Palestinian man with Israeli citizenship opens fire in central Israel, killing 1 and wounding 5 World Jun 7, 2026 6:13 PM EDT TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A Palestinian man with Israeli citizenship went on a shooting rampage in several towns in central Israel on Sunday, killing a reservist and wounding five other people, according to Israeli police and the military. The attacker was killed by police. The attack came at a time of heightened tensions following a spate of Israeli settler attacks, and the deadly shooting of a Palestinian baby over the weekend, in the nearby West Bank. Police identified the attacker as a resident of the Arab town of Taybeh in his 20s, but his precise motives weren't immediately known. READ MORE: 7-month-old baby killed after Israeli troops open fire on a car, Palestinian health officials say The attack began with a shooting Sunday morning at a gas station near the town of Kokhav Yair, located on the Israeli side of the boundary with the occupied West Bank. Several other shootings were reported in two nearby Israeli towns and close to the Israeli settlement of Salit, inside the West Bank. Police initially feared a series of coordinated attacks, but eventually determined that a gunman and an accomplice who may have served as his driver were involved. The suspected accomplice was arrested later after he tried to stab police with a glass bottle. Israel's military said that a 55-year-old reservist was killed near Tzur Natan. The Magen David Adom rescue service said that five other people were wounded, two severely. Fears of a widespread attack prompted authorities to order residents to stay at home, and children in the area were kept in lockdown at school for at least three hours. "Since Oct. 7, the scenario we were expecting was terrorists crossing into our towns from over the boundary. I don't think that anyone imagined that we would discover the attackers were Israeli citizens," Oshrit Gani Gonen, the regional council head, told Israeli media, referring to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that sparked the war in Gaza. Security minister posts video reportedly with dead gunman Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the security forces who killed the attacker, while Israel's hard-line public security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, who oversees the police force, released a video of himself standing next to what appeared to be a blurred image of the dead gunman. "This is the end of every terrorist, this is how it should look," said Ben-Gvir, who recently led an effort to pass a new law that seeks to impose the death penalty on Palestinian attackers. That law faces legal challenges. Ben-Gvir ha