2 killed, 4 injured in shooting attack near Tel Nof airbase in central Israel

At least four people were injured and two people killed in a shooting attack at the Re’em junction near the Tel Nof Israel Air Force base in central Israel on Friday afternoon. The attack, which took place on the 133rd day of the war, was carried out by a terrorist who arrived by car at the junction and opened fire on a bus stop. 

A 20-year-old man was fatally wounded by the shooting, three more people were seriously injured – a boy, a young man, and an elderly man – and two others were moderately injured. 

The terrorist was killed by an armed civilian at the scene. 

An eyewitness at the scene said that “people fled into the restaurant” at a nearby gas station. 

Magen David Adom medics and paramedics evacuated the victims to the Kaplan Hospital in Rehovot and Assuta Hospital in Ashdod.

Nahum David, deputy director of MDA’s Lachish Region, said, “We quickly arrived at the scene with large forces. The sight was very difficult, we saw people with gunshot wounds lying, some of them unconscious. We immediately performed an initial triage for the wounded, a 20-year-old man was unconscious without a pulse and without breathing with gunshot wounds. We gave him life-saving treatment, we tried to fight for his life and evacuated him to the hospital while performing CPR.”

One of the 20-year-old men was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital while another was said to be in critical condition. 

At the time of publication, a second victim had died of their wounds. 

The terrorist was reportedly a resident of the neighborhood of Shu’afat in the East Jerusalem area. His identification card was located in the vehicle that he drove to the scene of the shooting. 

An eyewitness told Army Radio, “A terrorist with a kippah went to the bus stop and started shooting with a gun, a civilian neutralized him.”

Police began a search of the area to rule out the presence of another terrorist. 

Police spokesman Eli Levy said that a police helicopter was dispatched to the surrounding area and that the forces had “not ruled out the possibility that there is more than one terrorist.”

The municipality of Kiryat Malachi, south of the junction, said an emergency squad was deployed to all the entrances at the eastern side of the city.

“It will be clarified that, contrary to rumors, there is no suspicion of a terrorist in the area,” the municipality stated.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to the attack Friday afternoon, sending condolences to the families of the two victims.

“I send my heartfelt condolences to the families of those killed in the attack at the Re’em junction, and pray for the safety of the wounded,” Netanyahu said. He continued, “This attack reminds us that the entire country is a front and that the murderers, who come not only from Gaza, want to kill us all. We will continue to fight until total victory with all our might, on every front, everywhere, until we restore security and quiet to all citizens of Israel.”