Israeli forces kill seven Palestinians as Palestinian gunman attacks central Israel
At least one person was killed and five others wounded on Sunday morning in a series of shooting attacks across central Israel, Israeli police said, describing the incidents as a suspected terror attack. The assailant, identified as a Palestinian with Israeli citizenship, was shot dead by security forces after opening fire in multiple locations near the West Bank border, according to authorities and emergency services.
Emergency responders from Magen David Adom, Israel’s equivalent of the Red Cross, reported treating victims in three separate towns northeast of Tel Aviv, including Kochav Yair. Police initially said two suspects had been killed but later confirmed only one attacker was involved, citing reports from *The Times of Israel* . The assailant, whose identity has not been officially released, was known to police prior to the attack, authorities said.
The violence unfolded amid a fragile ceasefire in Gaza, where six Palestinians—including children—were killed and ten others injured on Saturday when an Israeli drone strike hit a tent sheltering displaced civilians in Gaza City’s Al-Rimal neighborhood, according to medical sources . The attack occurred as Israeli forces continued to violate the ceasefire terms, local reports noted.
In the West Bank, a seven-month-old Palestinian infant, Sam Fahd Abu Haikal, was shot dead by Israeli forces on Friday, his father told *Expressen* . The incident has drawn condemnation from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which urged Washington to halt military support for Israel, citing the deaths of the infant and the six Gaza civilians as part of a pattern of violence .
Hamas, the Islamist militant group controlling Gaza, praised the central Israel shootings but did not claim responsibility, according to *Die Presse* . Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he had convened a situational assessment to monitor the attacks .
The surge in violence comes as tensions remain high across the region, with reports of settler harassment against Palestinian farmers in the West Bank and arrests of journalists critical of Israeli policies. Palestinian journalist Ali Samoudi, who was with slain reporter Shireen Abu Akleh when she was killed by Israeli forces in 2022, was released from Israeli detention in April after three years without charge or trial, *Mediapart* reported .



