Israelis killed and injured in operation in Beisan and Afula.. How was it carried out and what did the resistance factions say?

Israelis were killed and injured today, Friday, in an operation carried out by a Palestinian from the West Bank in two locations in the city of Beisan and a third in Afula, northern Israel, amid escalating violence by settlers and the occupation army in the occupied West Bank cities.

The Israeli police and the General Security Service are still investigating the operation, while the Israeli army is conducting an assessment of the situation in various areas, and has reinforced its forces in what it described as the "contact zone" with the West Bank.

Since October 7, 2023, the intensity of operations carried out by Palestinians in Israel, which its security agencies have not been able to prevent, has been escalating, but how was the Beisan operation carried out and who is responsible for it?

Initial Israeli investigations indicate that the perpetrator first ran over an Israeli youth on Yaakov Street in the city of Beisan, then ran over another on Hashomeron Street in the city. After that, he headed to Kibbutz Tel Yosef in Marj Ibn Amer near the area, where he got out of the car and stabbed an Israeli woman.

The perpetrator also headed towards the Afula area where he ran over another Israeli. However, a security guard in the area fired at the perpetrator, then the Israeli police arrested him and transferred him to the hospital, saying his injuries are moderate.

Israeli media reported that the dual operation in the two cities lasted about 50 minutes.

According to Israeli emergency services, a man was killed by being run over, while a woman was killed by stabbing in two locations in the city of Beisan, northern Israel.

The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation also said that two Israelis were injured in the operation with moderate and minor injuries, after initially reporting that 6 people were injured.

The Israeli Shin Bet said that the perpetrator of the operation is the Palestinian youth Ahmed Abu al-Rab (37 years old) from Qabatiya, south of the city of Jenin in the northern West Bank, which has been facing a wide Israeli operation (Iron Wall) since January, leading to the displacement of thousands and the destruction of Palestinians' homes and infrastructure in the city, while Qabatiya faces ongoing Israeli raids and arrests, the latest of which resulted in the martyrdom of a Palestinian boy after the occupation directly fired at him.

The Shin Bet also mentioned that Abu al-Rab belongs to the Islamic Jihad movement, which has not claimed responsibility for the operation so far.

Israeli media also quoted the army as saying that the perpetrator of the operation is an "illegal resident working in Israel for years".

After the dual operation, forces from the Duvdevan unit (the most prominent special forces units in the Israeli army) along with paratroopers and police stormed the town of Qabatiya, where they began implementing an intensive military operation, according to orders from Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

The Israeli army confirmed that it deployed air forces to provide fire support and surveillance over the Jenin and Qabatiya areas, and its forces stormed the perpetrator's home, and engineering forces began sweeping it in preparation for demolishing it.

According to the Israeli army's statement, the operation in Qabatiya aims to "locate every terrorist and thwart him and strike the terrorist infrastructure in the town", according to its description, without specifying the duration of the military operation.

On its part, the Israeli Army Radio reported that forces from various units are working to encircle Qabatiya and establish barriers in the area.

Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper quoted a source as saying that the Israeli army deployed forces north of the West Bank and the Jordan Valley to secure areas of the apartheid separation wall.

Politically, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emphasized that "the Israeli government will continue to work to thwart anyone who seeks to harm its citizens", according to his expression.

He noted that Israel faces from time to time what he described as "bloody acts" despite carrying out several operations to thwart what he called "terrorism" during the past year.

For his part, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir stated that the dual operation in northern Israel shows the "urgent need to apply the death penalty law", a bill that Ben-Gvir is pushing for its approval, which stipulates that a person who intentionally or negligently causes the death of an Israeli, and when the act is carried out with a racist motive or hatred and to harm Israel, he must face the death penalty.

The Islamic Jihad movement has not issued any statement so far.

For its part, the Islamic Resistance Movement considered the operation that took place in the cities of Beisan and Afula as an expression of the accumulated popular anger and a result of the occupation's daily crimes.

It also warned the occupation against continuing its aggressive policies, affirming that its crimes will not achieve security for it.