A stabbing attack at a shopping center in Karmiel, northern Israel, resulted in one person killed and another seriously wounded. The attacker, from a nearby Arab town, was shot dead by one of the victims. It's treated as a suspected terror attack. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad reacted, with escalating violence linked to the Gaza conflict.

Israeli officials have reported a stabbing attack at a shopping center in Karmiel, a town in northern Israel, resulting in one person killed and another seriously wounded.

According to police, the attacker, a resident of the nearby town of Nahaf, identified as a predominantly Arab community, was shot dead at the scene by one of the victims. CCTV footage showed the assailant repeatedly stabbing two men in uniforms armed with rifles, then fleeing before being shot and falling.

Police are treating the incident as a "suspected terror attack" and have detained several relatives of the attacker. No group has claimed responsibility immediately.

However, Hamas described the attack as a "natural response" to what it called Israel's actions in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, while Palestinian Islamic Jihad termed it a "heroic operation."

Israel's Magen David Adom ambulance service reported treating two men in their 20s with stab wounds inside the shopping center. Paramedics administered CPR to one critically injured man before evacuating both to Galilee Medical Centre in Nahariya. Later, the hospital confirmed one victim had died, while the other remained in intensive care.

Violence has escalated in the West Bank and Israel since the beginning of the Gaza conflict, which was sparked by Hamas's deadly attack on southern Israel on October 7. According to the UN, 22 Israelis, including nine security personnel, have been killed in Palestinian attacks in Israel and the West Bank since July 1. Over the same period, Israeli forces have reportedly killed 539 Palestinians, including members of armed groups, attackers, and civilians, in the West Bank.