TEL AVIV (JTA) — Two Israelis were killed in a terror attack on Friday at a junction in southern Israel.
Four others were wounded in the attack, one in serious condition. The attacker was a man from east Jerusalem and was killed by a civilian on the scene. He reportedly drove a car up to the junction and shot his victims at a bus stop.
The attack some 20 miles north of Gaza comes more than four months into Israel’s war with Hamas. It occurred about a month after a terror attack in the central Israeli city of Raanana killed one person and wounded 17.
“This attack reminds us that the entire country is on the frontline and that the murderers, who come not only from Gaza, want to kill us all,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement following the attack. “We will continue to fight until total victory, with all our might, on every front, everywhere, until we restore the security and quiet for all citizens of Israel.”
Itamar Ben-Gvir, the far-right national security minister, said the incident was a testament to the benefits of civilian gun ownership. Ben-Gvir has pushed to loosen Israel’s strict civilian gun control laws, a controversial effort that has raised fears of a growing vigilante culture in Israel.
“Guns save the lives of people,” he said. “I will expand and grow our policies in order to allow citizens to arm themselves.”
The attack in Israel comes as exchanges of rocket fire have escalated on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon. Israeli security forces have also conducted raids in the West Bank to arrest and kill suspected terrorists. In one operation on Jan. 30, Israeli forces disguised as medical staff entered a hospital in the northern West Bank city of Jenin to kill three Hamas militants said to be planning an attack on Israel modeled after Hamas’ invasion on Oct. 7.
Since Oct. 7, 388 Palestinians and 10 Israelis have been killed since Oct. 7 in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Israel, according to United Nations figures.
