Car-Ramming Attacks in Central Israel: 1 Killed, 17 Wounded, Palestinian Suspects Arrested

At least one person has been killed and 17 wounded in car-ramming attacks in central Israel, according to police and medical officials.

Israeli police said two Palestinian suspects from the occupied West Bank were arrested in connection with Monday’s attacks in the city of Raanana north of Tel Aviv.

“Both suspects, Hebron residents, who entered Israel illegally, are in police custody,” the police said on X.

In an earlier statement, police said two suspects stole vehicles and ran over a number of residents in different locations.

“A wounded woman who arrived in a critical condition after having been hit by a vehicle has died of her injuries despite our efforts to save her,” said a statement from Meir Medical Center near the site of the assaults.

At least 17 other people were being treated for injuries, including two seriously, medics from the Magen David Adom emergency service said.

Central district police chief Avi Biton told reporters in Raanana that the two “went out together and in parallel, to two different locations, took two cars and launched a series of rammings”.

Israeli TV showed scattered personal items on a pavement and said several children were among the injured.

Israeli media named the two suspects as Ahmed Zidat, 25, and Mahmoud Zidad, 44, both residents of the southern occupied West Bank town of Bani Naim, close to Hebron.

A family member of the suspects confirmed the two are related and told Al Jazeera they used to work in Israel before their work permits were revoked. Israeli authorities banned all Palestinian workers from the occupied West Bank from entering the country after the October 7 attack.

The pair have since managed to re-enter Israel irregularly, the relative said.

“They now expect their houses to be demolished, a routine practice here in the occupied West Bank,” said Al Jazeera’s Hoda Abdel-Hamid. “But they also expect some form of collective punishment such as the whole village being sealed off and isolated for some time,” she added.

Pressure has been ramping up in Israel and across the occupied West Bank since October 7, when Hamas fighters launched an unprecedented assault into southern Israel and killed nearly 1,200 people and took about 240 captives.

The attack triggered a brutal response from Israel which vowed to root out the armed group from the Gaza Strip in a military campaign that has killed more than 24,000 people.

Since then, violence has surged across the occupied West Bank where Israeli forces have conducted near-daily raids.

This resulted in the killing of more than 300 people across the occupied Palestinian territories by Israeli forces and settlers, according to UN data.