Two Jews, Hy”d, Killed in Barkan Shooting Attack

Two Jews, Hy”d, were murdered and another wounded Sunday morning in a shooting attack at the Barkan industrial zone near Ariel, in central Shomron. Police and IDF soldiers were pursuing the shooter, who ran away from the scene. The motive for the shooting is not yet known.

A man and woman in their 40s were critically wounded, and subsequently passed away, while a 54-year-old woman was seriously wounded and evacuated to Beilinson Hospital in Petach Tikvah.

The hospital later announced that the condition of the woman, who suffered from a stomach wound, was classified as moderate and that, baruch Hashem, her life was not in danger.

The Barkan industrial zone is one of the largest manufacturing areas in central Israel, with some 20,000 workers, both Jewish and Arab, employed at the many factories located there. Many of the Arab workers are residents of Palestinian Authority-controlled villages in the area.

Police are still investigating the motive of the shooter, an Arab from Tul Karem whose identity is known to police, officials said. According to some sources, the worker had been employed at the factory where the shooting took place, and he had returned to express his anger at being fired, while officials in the Yesha Council attributed the motive to terrorism. Hamas released a statement saying that it “praised the heroic attack, which expresses our resistance to the occupation.”