A suspected terror shooting in central Israel killed at least one person and wounded five others.
According to Britain's BBC on Sunday, Israel's emergency medical service Magen David Adom (MDA) said a man in his 30s was shot dead at a gas station in Kochav Yair. Kochav Yair is located along the "Green Line," the boundary between Israel and the Gaza Strip. The shootings occurred in a series. MDA added that five other people were wounded at least three different scenes, two of them in serious condition.
Israeli police said they discovered a vehicle connected to the shooting, pursued it, and ultimately "neutralized" it. Israeli police use the term "neutralized" to mean the suspect was shot dead.
According to sources, the suspect was an Israeli citizen from Tayibe, an Arab town north of Kochav Yair, the BBC reported. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened a response meeting after the attack.
The Israeli military announced that it had "dispatched forces to the Salit and Tzur Yitzhak areas following multiple reports of shooting incidents." Police also advised nearby residents to refrain from going outside until further notice.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian militant group Hamas issued a statement praising the shooting. Hamas claimed that "(this shooting is) a response to the occupying state's continued aggression against the Gaza Strip and to the raids we endure daily in the West Bank and Jerusalem."
In response, far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said, "The equation is simple. Anyone who accepts the state's sovereignty will live here in peace, and anyone who chooses the path of terror will pay the price," urging a crackdown on illegal weapons within Israel's Arab community.
