Car ram attack in Israel kills 1 and injures 17, police say

Two Palestinian men stole cars and ran over Israelis in a Tel Aviv suburb on Monday, Israeli police said.

Both men, residents of the Hebron area in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, were arrested, police said in a statement. Their motives are still under investigation, but the incident was being treated as a terrorist attack, according to police spokesman Dean Elsnauw.

Magen David Adom, an Israeli emergency medical service, said a woman in her 70s was killed and 17 other people were injured, two of whom were in serious condition.

The incident, in the town of Ra'anana, came amid heightened tensions in Israel as the war against Hamas in Gaza entered its fourth month and Israeli security forces tightened restrictions on Palestinians in the West Bank.

In a statement, Hamas praised what it described as “the 'Ra'anana' attack,” calling the attackers “heroes” and calling their actions “a natural response to the occupation's massacres and aggression against the Palestinian people.” It took no responsibility for the incident.

The Shin Bet, Israel's internal intelligence agency, identified the suspects as Ahmad Zidat, 25, and Mahmoud Zidat, 44. They said they were members of the same family from the village of Bani Naim, and were among the Palestinians excluded not to enter Israel.

Footage from the scene showed emergency workers and police officers near a damaged white vehicle on a sidewalk next to a bus station.

Police believe three vehicles were used in the incident.