Arab attacker opens fire in central Israel, killing 1 and wounding 5

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A Palestinian man with Israeli citizenship went on a shooting rampage in several towns in central Israel on Sunday, killing a reservist and wounding five other people, according to Israeli police and the military. The attacker was killed by police.

The attack came at a time of heightened tensions following a spate of Israeli settler attacks, and the deadly shooting of a Palestinian baby over the weekend, in the nearby West Bank. Police identified the attacker as a resident of the Arab town of Taybeh in his 20s, but his precise motives weren't immediately known.

The attack began with a shooting Sunday morning at a gas station near the town of Kokhav Yair, located on the Israeli side of the boundary with the occupied West Bank. Several other shootings were reported in two nearby Israeli towns and close to the Israeli settlement of Salit, inside the West Bank.

Police initially feared a series of coordinated attacks, but eventually determined that a gunman and an accomplice who may have served as his driver were involved. The suspected accomplice was arrested later after he tried to stab police with a glass bottle.

Israel's military said that a 55-year-old reservist was killed near Tzur Natan. The Magen David Adom rescue service said that five other people were wounded, two severely.

Fears of a widespread attack prompted authorities to order residents to stay at home, and children in the area were kept in lockdown at school for at least three hours.

“Since Oct. 7, the scenario we were expecting was terrorists crossing into our towns from over the boundary. I don’t think that anyone imagined that we would discover the attackers were Israeli citizens,” Oshrit Gani Gonen, the regional council head, told Israeli media, referring to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that sparked the war in Gaza.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the security forces who killed the attacker, while Israel’s hard-line public security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, who oversees the police force, released a video of himself standing next to what appeared to be a blurred image of the dead gunman.

“This is the end of every terrorist, this is how it should look,” said Ben-Gvir, who recently led an effort to pass a new law that seeks to impose the death penalty on Palestinian attackers. That law faces legal challenges.

Ben-Gvir has come under sharp condemnation from other Israeli leaders for making contentious videos, such as his treatment of flotilla activists who were detained after attempting to break the maritime blockade to Gaza.

The West Bank has experienced a surge in deadly violence since the war in Gaza began. Israel has stepped up military operations across the territory, killing hundreds of people. It says raids are aimed at militants, but scores of civilians have also been killed.

The Oct. 7 attack killed around 1,200 people and took 251 as hostages. Israel’s ensuing offensive in Gaza has killed more than 72,000 Palestinians, including combatants and civilians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The ministry, part of the Hamas-led government, maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts. It doesn't give a breakdown of civilians and militants.

Also on Sunday, at least five Palestinians were killed in an Israeli airstrike that hit a police point in Gaza's southern city of Khan Younis, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent. The dead were taken to a field hospital run by the Red Crescent. At least 10 others were wounded, the charity said.

An Israeli strike later in the day killed at least four Palestinians when it hit a vehicle in the western part of Gaza City, according to Shifa hospital, which received the casualties.

The Israeli military didn't immediately comment on either strike, but has said in the past that it would target militants that pose a threat to its troops. While the heaviest fighting has subsided since the U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal last October, the ceasefire has seen almost daily Israeli fire.

Israel later closed the crossings with Gaza until further notice due to the deteriorating security situation, according to the defense body that oversees humanitarian aid in Gaza, which issued the statement after Iran launched missiles at Israel.

Netanyahu, in a Cabinet meeting, repeated his pledge to take 70% of Gaza: “We are presently holding more than 60% of the territory, and soon we will reach 70%.” He said that Israel isn't allowing Hamas to “rearm or harm us,” in comments released to the media.

The head of the U.S.-created Board of Peace that oversees the ceasefire acknowledged last month that next steps in the truce have stalled over the key issue of disarming Hamas.

Samy Magdy contributed to this report from Cairo.

A previous version of this story was corrected to show that the location where the Israeli man was killed was on the Israeli side of the boundary with the Israel-occupied West Bank, not inside the West Bank.

Palestinians mourn over the body of Mohammed Al-Harazin at the morgue of Shifa Hospital after he was killed in an Israeli airstrike on a vehicle in Gaza City, Sunday, June 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Blood stains are visible at the scene of what Israeli police say was a series of shooting attacks carried out by a Palestinian citizen of Israel in Kochav Yair, central Israel, Sunday, June 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Israeli security forces and ZAKA rescue service volunteers respond at the scene of a shooting attack carried out by a Palestinian citizen of Israel near Tzur Yitzhak in central Israel, Sunday, June 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Israeli security forces and ZAKA rescue service volunteers respond at the scene of a shooting attack carried out by a Palestinian citizen of Israel near Tzur Yitzhak in central Israel, Sunday, June 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Israeli police officers are deployed at the scene of a shooting attack carried out by a Palestinian citizen of Israel near Tzur Yitzhak in central Israel, Sunday, June 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Israeli security forces are deployed at the scene of a shooting attack carried out by a Palestinian citizen of Israel near Tzur Yitzhak in central Israel, Sunday, June 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Israeli security forces are deployed at the scene of a shooting attack carried out by a Palestinian citizen of Israel near Tzur Yitzhak in central Israel, Sunday, June 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

CAIRO (AP) — The United States paused its attacks on Iran for a second straight day Sunday and Tehran said it had done so too, as efforts continued to bring the countries back to negotiations on an interim ceasefire deal largely undermined by recent exchanges of fire.

It was not clear why the U.S. has paused after targeting Iranian coastal areas and infrastructure in a nearly two-week escalation sparked by Iran’s firing at ships trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz. The Pentagon did not immediately respond to questions Sunday.

“President (Donald) Trump has always been consistent in saying he prefers a diplomatic solution, but he continues to retain all options if Iran continues terrorist activities in the Strait of Hormuz or against allies," White House communications director Steven Cheung said, adding: “It would be wise for Iran to work toward a negotiated deal. Otherwise, they know what will happen.”

Since the U.S. has halted attacks for the past two nights, Iran has as well, its army spokesperson told Iran’s state TV on Sunday. Tehran in recent days has counterattacked against countries in the region hosting U.S. military forces, killing at least three at a base in Jordan.

The 60-day period that began when the interim deal was signed by both countries in mid-June is now well into its second half, and major issues that were meant to be negotiated -– notably Iran’s nuclear program at the heart of tensions -– remain set aside as mediators try to keep both sides talking.

A regional official involved in mediation efforts said diplomacy was underway and that a pause in U.S. and Iranian strikes was a “positive signal that helps their efforts to de-escalate.”

The official said both countries want to return to the interim ceasefire deal and that a compromise being negotiated centers on having Iran run vessel transit through the Strait of Hormuz with fewer restrictions on ships. The official was not authorized to discuss the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Concerns continued about shipping on the strait and now on another crucial waterway in the region, the Bab al-Mandeb strait to the Red Sea. Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen last week threatened a blockade of Saudi shipping there.

Global energy supplies and the economy remain in the balance as gasoline prices have risen again.

Iran on Sunday said it continued to speak with Oman about managing the safe passage of ships on the Strait of Hormuz, which passes between the countries. Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, said talks had made progress and continued.

Baghaei also said the strait's status remained unchanged. Tehran has asserted that the interim deal with the U.S. allows it to manage shipping on the waterway for now, and it has objected to U.S. efforts to support a route through the strait that passes close to Oman instead.

The U.S. military on Saturday said its recently reimposed naval blockade against Iran continued, with a dozen commercial ships redirected, two disabled and two boarded. U.S. forces “remain highly vigilant, focused, lethal, and ready,” it added.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to travel to the United States and meet with Trump in Washington on Tuesday, his office has said. They last met in Washington in February, weeks before they launched the war on Iran that killed senior leaders including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The Iranian-backed Hezbollah fired at Israel two days after the war began, and Israel responded with airstrikes and ground forces in southern Lebanon. Since then, the U.S. has supported landmark direct talks between Lebanon and Israel to try to calm that front and find a way to disarm Hezbollah.

Netanyahu on Sunday told Fox News he “fully” backs Trump's efforts to weaken Iran and press it to end its nuclear program, adding: “If he can do so without returning to intense military fighting, that’s fine. Why not?”

The prime minister indicated he would not present new information to “our good friend” Trump and instead would listen to “what he has in mind, because I think in many ways, it’s his decision.”

But Netanyahu warned that if Iran again attacks Israel, directly or with armed proxies, “it will make a terrible mistake.”

Anna reported from Lowville, New York. Associated Press writers Darlene Superville and Ben Finley in Washington contributed.

A Lebanese woman clears debris of her destroyed house in the village of Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh, southern Lebanon, Sunday, July 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahmad Mantash)

People walk through the village of Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh after the Lebanese army deployed to the village in southern Lebanon, Sunday, July 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahmad Mantash)

A Lebanese soldier looks through the binoculars of an anti-tank launcher in front of a destroyed mosque after deploying in the village of Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh, southern Lebanon, Sunday, July 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahmad Mantash)

Two men wade in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz with vessels anchored in the background, off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Sunday, July 12, 2026. (Razieh Poudat/ISNA via AP)