Israeli forces launched operations on Friday afternoon in the Palestinian village of Qabatiya, near Jenin in Samaria, following a deadly terror attack in northern Israel earlier in the day.
According to the military, forces conducted a “precise operational search” of the attacker’s residence and mapped the site in preparation for its demolition.
Troops also questioned several suspects.
“The forces continue to search additional sites in the area and to thwart terrorism,” according to the IDF.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir on Friday held a situational assessment with Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth and other senior officers, added the statement.
Two people were killed and two others wounded in a series of ramming and stabbing attacks in northern Israel on Friday.
Magen David Adom said it received a report at 12:31 p.m. at its call center in the Gilboa region of an injured woman on Route 71 near Kibbutz Ein Harod. The 19-year-old victim was run over and then stabbed. She was later pronounced dead at HaEmek Medical Center in Afula and identified as Aviv Maor.
Shortly beforehand, a 68-year-old man, later named as Shimshon Mordechai, was fatally struck by a vehicle in Beit She’an. In a separate ramming in the city, a 16-year-old boy was injured; he was hospitalized in light condition.
A 37-year-old man was later injured outside Afula when the attacker exited his vehicle and struck him with a rock.
The terrorist, identified as a Palestinian man from Qabatiya, fled in his employer’s car after the attack on Route 71 toward Kibbutz Tel Yosef. Police said he was later shot and arrested at the entrance to Afula, after which he was hospitalized in moderate condition. The Kan public broadcaster reported that he had been working in Israel illegally.
מפקד חטיבת הבקעה והעמקים, אלוף-משנה ג' ומפקדים נוספים קפצו מוקדם יותר היום לזירת הפיגוע בבית שאן לביצוע הערכות מצב ונקיטת צעדים ופעולות להמשך pic.twitter.com/zitl8un67S
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) December 26, 2025
Following the attacks, Israeli President Isaac Herzog spoke to Noam Jumaa, mayor of Beit She’an, and Danny Atar, head of the Gilboa Regional Council, asking them “to convey words of strength, support and condolences to the residents of the area from the entire people of Israel in the face of this difficult event. ...
“Israel is committed to reinforcing and strengthening this challenging border and, of course, to bolstering the security response in the area for the full safety of the residents. I thank the security officer who neutralized the terrorist for his alertness and decisive action,” added Herzog.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar tweeted on Friday, “The Palestinian Authority is deceiving the international community while continuing to pay salaries to terrorists and their families, and encouraging terror. Terror will not win. We’ll continue to strengthen our hold on our land.”
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visited Afula and Beit She’an after the attacks, urging Israeli citizens to carry weapons and join readiness training classes. “Security forces and armed civilians stop attacks,” he said. “We’ve eased gun laws. Arm yourselves!”
Ben-Gvir called for advancing the death-penalty-for-terrorists bill.
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said on Friday that the attack on civilians dealt a blow to prospects for coexistence.
“For the Jew-haters and anti-Israel crowd, these intentional murders threaten a short- & long-term solution to lasting peace,” he tweeted.
