Man opens fire in central Israel killing one person and injuring five others

An Israeli man went on a shooting rampage in several towns in central Israel on Sunday, killing one person and wounding five others before being shot and killed by police.

The number of places where people were shot initially raised concerns that there could be multiple, coordinated attackers who had crossed over from the occupied West Bank before police eventually determined that it was a lone gunman and an accomplice.

The man was later identified as an ethnic Palestinian who holds Israeli citizenship, police revealed.

Rescue services Magen David Adom said that it received the first reports of a shooting at a gas station near the town of Kokhav Yair, located on the Israeli side of the boundary with the occupied West Bank, at around 10:30 am local time.

Several other shooting reports were received soon afterward, in the towns of Tsur Natan, Tsur Yitzhak, and close to the Israeli settlement of Sal'it, located inside the occupied territory.

Police arrested a second person involved in the attack later on Sunday. The man allegedly attempted to stab police with a glass bottle during the arrest, but there were no injuries. Police say investigations are still ongoing.

Israel's Channel 12 reported that the attacker stayed in his car while shooting, allowing him to reach several locations within a matter of minutes. Police and officials accounts have not confirmed this account.

A 35-year-old Israeli man was killed in the town of Kokhav Yair, according to the rescue services.

A total of five people were wounded in the shootings, two in severe condition and three moderately injured, Magen David Adom said. Rescue services had initially reported six injured in the chaotic aftermath of the attack.

Residents in the area were instructed to stay at home and children were kept in lockdown at school for at least three hours, according to the regional council head.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced the incident as a terrorist attack and praised his country’s response efforts for effectively and quickly neutralising the threat.

"We are fighting terrorism on all fronts. In Judea and Samaria, on the Seam Line, the IDF, Shin Bet and the Israel Police thwart hundreds of attacks a year, hundreds, but unfortunately not all of them,” said Netanyahu.

“This morning a heinous terrorist went out, reached Kochav Yair, and unfortunately managed, before being eliminated, to murder an Israeli citizen and injure others. First of all, I praise the emergency forces, the emergency preparedness team, who acted immediately against the terrorists. I praise the Israel Police officers who eliminated the terrorist and also caught his accomplice."

Israeli officials say all of the injured were transferred to hospitals to receive treatments for their wounds, described as varying in degrees of severity.