Four killed in suspected terrorist attack in Israel, suspect shot dead by residents

Members of Israeli ZAKA emergency and response team clean the blood stains at the scene of an attack in Beersheba, southern Israel. Photo / AP

A knife-wielding Arab man on Tuesday (local time) killed four people and seriously wounded two others in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba before he was shot dead by armed residents, police said.

Police said the attacker careened his car into a cyclist and stabbed five people across a swath of the city centre. Amateur footage posted online appeared to show armed bystanders shooting and killing the attacker.

Israel police chief Kobi Shabtai said it was "an abominable killing spree by a terrorist known to security services". He said the attacker, who had previously served prison time, appeared to have acted alone.

Shabtai declined to comment further on the suspect, but Israeli media identified him as a 34-year-old Arab man from the nearby Bedouin town of Hura. Reports said he was imprisoned for four years after admitting he intended to join the Islamic State group in Syria in 2015.

Omer Barlev, the minister in charge of police, tweeted that the attack was committed "by a cursed terrorist that it would have been better if he hadn't been freed from prison in 2019".

Blood stains a road after as policemen work at the scene of an attack in Beersheba, southern Israel. Photo / AP

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett issued condolences to the families of the victims and said "we will work with a heavy hand against those who commit terror. We will pursue and reach those who assist them, too."

Palestinians have been accused in dozens of stabbing, shooting and car-ramming attacks targeting Israeli civilians and security personnel in recent years.

Most of the alleged attacks were carried out by individuals with no known links to armed groups. It is rare for such attacks to be committed by Palestinian citizens of Israel, however.

In the Gaza Strip, some Palestinians were seen distributing sweets to express happiness after the attack. The Hamas militant group's spokesman, Hazem Qassem, praised the attack as "a response to the policy of ethnic expulsion" against Arab citizens of Israel.