Israeli man killed in terror attack at West Bank shopping complex; 2 attackers killed

A 22-year-old Israeli man was killed in a terror attack at a shopping complex at the Gush Etzion Junction in the West Bank on Thursday, the military, police, and medics said.

The two Palestinian terrorists who carried out the attack were shot dead by a soldier and another armed civilian in the area, West Bank District Commander Moshe Pinchi told reporters at the scene.

According to a preliminary investigation of the attack, the two terrorists arrived by a stolen car at the shopping center and stabbed a security guard outside a supermarket. The assailants then snatched the guard’s handgun and exchanged fire with the soldier and armed civilian, before being killed.

The guard was initially listed in critical condition, then was declared dead by Magen David Adom medics. He was later named as Shalev Zvuluny, 22, from Kiryat Arba.

The Israel Defense Forces described the incident as a “combined shooting and stabbing attack.”

The council of the Hebron-adjacent settlement mourned Zvuluny as “a special person, beloved by those who knew him,” sending condolences and support to the family.

Following the attack, the IDF said troops were surrounding the nearby West Bank town of Halhul and blocking roads in the area.

The two perpetrators were later identified as Palestinian cops who served in the Palestinian Authority’s police force, The Times of Israel learned. The two were in their early 20s and had completed their training only a few months ago.

#متابعة| الشهيدان محمود يوسف محمد عابد (٢٣ عاماً) من حلحول ومالك إبراهيم عبد الجبار سالم (٢٣ عاماً) من بلدة بزاريا بنابلس منفذا عملية "غوش عتصيون" التي أدت لمقتل جندي "إسرائيلي" pic.twitter.com/CVkjMpszqB

— وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) July 10, 2025

They were named by Palestinian media as Mahmoud Abed, 23, from Halhul, and Malik Salem, 23, from Tulkarem.

Neither had any security background nor were previously detained by Israel, a defense official said.

The armed civilian who killed the terrorists told Channel 12 news he was in line at the checkout when he heard gunshots.

“Someone entered the store and yelled that there were terrorists outside. I left everything in the store, and immediately ran outside together with a soldier who was in civilian clothing,” he said.

“There was a lot of shooting. We didn’t know exactly where it was coming from. In the end, we managed to identify the two terrorists who were hiding and killed them,” he said.

Ilan, a witness to the attack, described hearing gunshots fired in all directions, adding, “It was a miracle a greater disaster didn’t occur.”

Earlier on Thursday, an IDF soldier was stabbed by a Palestinian during operations in the West Bank village of Rummanah, near Jenin, the military said.

Since October 7, 2023, when Hamas led a devastating invasion of southern Israel from the Gaza Strip that triggered the ongoing war in the enclave, troops have arrested some 6,000 Palestinians across the West Bank, including more than 2,350 affiliated with Hamas.

According to the Palestinian Authority health ministry, more than 950 West Bank Palestinians have been killed in that time. The IDF says the vast majority of them were gunmen killed in exchanges of fire, rioters who clashed with troops, or terrorists carrying out attacks.

During the same period, 53 people, including Israeli security personnel, have been killed in terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank. Another eight members of the security forces were killed in clashes with terror operatives in the West Bank.