A terrorist went on a shooting rampage at a factory in the Barkan industrial zone near Ariel in Samaria early Sunday, killing two people and seriously injuring a third.
Carrying an automatic rifle, the terrorist entered the factory at 7:40 a.m. and went up to a second-floor office, where he tied up a male and a female employee and shot them at close range. The two, one 28 years old and the other in his 30s, were critically wounded and died shortly afterward.
He also shot and wounded another woman, who was taken to hospital in a serious but stable condition.
The suspect – a 23-year-old Palestinian man from the village of Shawika north of Tulkarem, who used to work at the factory – fled the scene.
"When we arrived at the scene, we saw three people suffering from gunshot wounds lying on the ground," said Magen David Adom paramedic David Bruchi, who arrived at the site with fellow paramedic Neria Tekoa.
"Two of them, a man and a woman, were unconscious, and a 54-year-old woman was fully conscious with bullet wounds to her upper body.
"We administered first aid and evacuated the second woman to Beilinson Hospital [in Petach Tikva] in serious but stable condition," Bruchi said.
The other two people were declared dead at the scene.
Witnesses reported seeing the suspect running away in the direction of the Wadi Ornit ravine. Police and IDF troops were in pursuit, with assistance from the Shin Bet security agency. There was concern that the suspect might shoot more civilians or attack soldiers.
The IDF confirmed that the shooting was a terrorist attack, rather than a criminal one.
"Apparently, it was a lone attacker who carried out the shooting, without being affiliated with any terrorist organization," IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Ronen Manelis said in a statement.
"He had a permit to work in Israel and there was no prior intelligence about his plans. He used to be employed at the factory where he perpetrated the shooting.
"The incident is under investigation and [security forces] are probing how the terrorist managed to enter the industrial park and the factory itself carrying a gun. Some 3,300 Palestinians who hold work permits are employed at the Barkan industrial park, and about the same number of Jews. Barkan is an area of coexistence. We will study today's events," Manelis said.
He added that considerable activity was underway to track down the perpetrator.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke of the attack at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday.
"This was a very serious attack in which two Israelis were brutally murdered and another civilian was sounded. Security forces are in pursuit of the killer, and I'm sure that we will soon bring him to justice. I want to send my condolences and those of the government to the families, as well as our wishes for a speedy recovery for the wounded," Netanyahu said.
President Reuven Rivlin posted on Twitter that he was "horrified" to hear of the terrorist attack.
"It wasn't just an attack on innocent people who were just living their lives, it was an attack on the possibility that Israelis and Palestinians might co-exist peacefully," Rivlin tweeted.
He called on the Palestinian leadership to condemn the attack and to help Israeli forces apprehend the terrorist and anyone who might be aiding him.
While the shooter may not have been a member of any terrorist organization, both Hamas and Islamic Jihad were quick to applaud him.
"We welcome the 'Barkan attack,' which was a response to the crimes of the Gaza occupation and the [planned demolition of the illegal Bedouin settlement of] Khan al-Ahmar, as well as the settlements in the West Bank," Hamas spokesman Abdelatif al-Qanoua said.
The official Hamas website declared: "The intifada continues. We will not allow resistance in the West Bank to be quashed. This is a natural response to the crimes of the occupation."
Hamas also said Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas "must stop all security coordination with the Zionist enemy immediately."
Islamic Jihad called the shooting a "heroic act against the illegal settlements."
Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan called the attack "very serious."
"Until now, there has never been any kind of terrorist incident here [at the Barkan industrial park]," he said.
"The industrial area has been a bridge of coexistence for decades. And the BDS movement has been trying to boycott the enterprise for some time, without success. We will stay strong, and never give in to this murderous terrorism.
"Right now, the incident is still unfolding, with all the ramifications of that. A terrorist came in and opened fire. Half the workers here are Arabs, and half are Jews. There are dozens of Jewish and Arab workers, and they're all crying together," Dagan said.
