Seventeen people were injured in the attack in the Tel Aviv subburb of Ra’anana, including a 70-year-old woman who later died in hospital.
Israeli paramedics said a 34-year-old man and a 16-year-old boy were in a serious condition, with the others suffering more moderate injuries, according to Israel’s national ambulance service.
The suspect stabbed the driver of a vehicle before stealing her car and ramming into pedestrians near a bus stop, police said.
He abandoned that car when it stalled, stealing another vehicle to continue his attack. A third car was also used to mow down several more people, reports said.
“They went out together and in parallel, to two different locations, took two cars and launched a series of rammings,” central district police chief Avi Biton said. “This was a very grave terror attack.”
Two Palestinian suspects from the West Bank were later arrested following the attacks.
Mahmoud Zidat, 44, an illegal worker from Hebron, in the West Bank, was detained as was the suspect’s nephew, 25-year-old Ahmed Zidat.
Police said the younger man was in the car with his uncle during the attack and was caught later after fleeing the scene. Both suspects had entered Israel illegally, they said.
Police were searching the area for any additional suspects. Hamas praised the attack but neither it nor other armed groups claimed responsibility.
Tensions remain high in the Palestinian Authority-controlled West Bank, where more than over 300 Palestinians have been killed in clashes with Israeli security forces since Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza began on October 7.
