Suspect in Thursday car-ramming caught at central Israel construction site

Law enforcement on Saturday arrested a man suspected of carrying out a car-ramming attack in central Israel last week that wounded eight IDF soldiers, police said.

Police said the suspect, named earlier as Arkan Khaled, a 27-year-old Israeli resident of Taybeh, was caught while hiding at a construction site in the town of Kfar Yona.

The attack happened on Thursday at the Beit Lid Junction in central Israel, near Kfar Yona.

After the incident, the Magen David Adom emergency service said two of the victims, a man and a woman aged 20 and 18, respectively, suffered moderate injuries. Three others were in light-to-moderate condition, and three were lightly injured.

The perpetrator fled, abandoning his car in the area, where it was found by police.

Police announced on the day of the attack that Khaled was the suspect and asked the public for assistance in locating him.

Station and district officers conducted searches along roads and in open areas, assisted by other security forces, police helicopters, motorcycle units and canine units, the force said.

Security forces closed crossings into the West Bank in the area, including the road leading to Tulkarem, as they searched for the suspect. Central District police commander Yair Hetzroni also gave an order to enlist local volunteer security teams in central Israel to assist in the manhunt.

Eyewitness to the attack, Kinneret Hanuka, a Kfar Yona resident, told media that she was driving to work when the suspected attacker cut across her lane and accelerated toward the bus stop. After hitting those waiting at the station, he drove off, leaving the victims lying on the ground.

After the suspect drove away, she and others ran to assist the injured.

An MDA paramedic who came to the scene said that some of the injured had been thrown 15 meters from the bus stop. He said they were all fully conscious when medics arrived and recounted how the vehicle sped toward them, hit them, and then drove away.

The mayor of Kfar Yona, Albert Tayeb, told the media there had long been concerns that bus stops along the route were not protected by metal posts, which are sometimes erected at such locations to prevent ramming.

He said local officials had contacted state road infrastructure company Netivei Israel about the issue but were told that such posts were “not safe.”

Charlie Summers contributed to this report.