Gunman kills one, wounds five in drive-by attacks in Israel
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Israeli emergency personnel work at the scene of what Israeli police say was a series of shooting attacks in central Israel June 7, 2026. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
JERUSALEM, June 7 (Reuters) - A gunman in a car opened fire at three locations in Israel close to the border with the occupied West Bank on Sunday, killing one man and wounding several other people, Israeli authorities said.
The police said they killed the suspected gunman following a brief pursuit and recovered the firearm and vehicle used in the shootings, which took place in and around Kochav Yair, inside Israel close to the West Bank city of Qalqilya.
A second suspect was later arrested after he "made statements suggesting involvement in the attack", the police said, without giving details of his alleged role. He tried to assault officers with a glass bottle when he was arrested.
"This morning, a heinous terrorist went out, reached Kochav Yair, and unfortunately managed, before being eliminated, to murder an Israeli citizen and injure others," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, praising the police officers.
President Isaac Herzog said he was "shocked by the horrific terror attack", offering sympathy for the family of the slain victim and prayers for a swift recovery for the wounded.
Police said the man who was killed by the gunman was a 35-year-old civilian. Israel's ambulance service said five other people were wounded, two of them seriously, in drive-by shootings at three locations.
The gunman was identified by police as in his twenties and a resident of Tayibe, a nearby Israeli city mainly populated by Arab citizens of Israel.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. Palestinian militant group Hamas praised the shootings but did not claim responsibility.
Following the shootings, Israeli soldiers were deployed to one of the sites in central Israel and to a nearby Israeli settlement in the West Bank, the military said in a statement.
Hardline Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for a "profound change" among Israeli Arabs, who comprise around 20% of Israel's population. A "dangerous and extremist breeding ground for terrorism is growing that seeks to destroy the State of Israel," he said.
(Reporting by Steven Scheer and Alexander CornwellEditing by Tomasz Janowski, Mark Potter, Peter Graff)
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