Israel files indictment against West Bank man in deadly northern Israel terror attack

The indictment, submitted to the Nazareth District Court, follows a joint investigation by the Israeli police and the Shin Bet (Israeli security agency).

Prosecutors on Thursday filed a comprehensive indictment against Ahmad Abd al-Rahim Abu al-Rub, 34, of the West Bank town of Kabatiya near Jenin, charging him with two counts of murder as an act of terrorism and three additional attempted murders for a combined car-ramming and stabbing attack in northern Israel late last year that left two people dead and three injured.

The indictment, submitted to the Nazareth District Court, follows a joint investigation by the Israeli police and the Shin Bet (Israeli security agency).

According to the charges, Abu al-Rub committed a series of pre-planned killings motivated by nationalist, religious and ideological motives on December 26, 2025, moving between several locations in the Jezreel and Beit She’an valleys.

The attack began in Beit She’an, where Abu al-Rub allegedly rammed his vehicle into Shimson Mordechai, 68, killing him instantly. He then fled the area and continued south, searching for other victims, prosecutors said.

At a bus stop near the Tel Yosef intersection, he attempted to run over two young Israelis before getting out of his vehicle armed with a knife and stabbing 18-year-old Aviv Maor to death after chasing her on foot. Maor died from several stab wounds despite the efforts of rescuers.

The indictment further alleges that Abu al-Rub continued his assault in Afula, where he deliberately swerved his vehicle towards a pedestrian, seriously injuring a 37-year-old man, before being neutralized by an armed security officer and civilians at the scene.

Three other victims survived the attack with injuries ranging from minor to serious.

Prosecutors say Abu al-Rub was illegally present in Israel several days before the attack, having entered without a permit. During this period, he was employed on a construction site in the north, where he allegedly armed himself with a knife and screwdriver recovered from the site before launching the attack.

Abu al-Rub deliberately aimed to kill Jewish civilians

Investigators determined that on the morning of the attack, Abu al-Rub stole a vehicle belonging to his employer and deliberately set out to kill Jewish civilians. The indictment says he made phone calls to family members shortly before the assault, which prosecutors say were parting acts before carrying out the attack.

Along with the indictment against Abu al-Rub, authorities also filed charges against two of his brothers, who were staying in Israel illegally, as well as his employer, a resident of Arrabe in the Lower Galilee, suspected of illegally employing and transporting him.

Along with the indictment, prosecutors requested that Abu al-Rub be held in detention until the conclusion of legal proceedings, citing the extreme seriousness of the offenses, ideological motive and what they described as an acute danger to public safety.

According to the pretrial detention request, the prosecution’s case includes a detailed confession, corroborating forensic evidence – including DNA linking the accused to one of the victims – extensive security camera footage tracing his route and eyewitness accounts from surviving victims and bystanders.

Abu al Rub has been in detention since December 26.

The attack then sent shockwaves through communities across northern Israel, prompting increased security deployments and fresh warnings from authorities about the dangers posed by illegal entry and employment of Palestinians without permits – a theme reiterated by police on Thursday, vowing to continue cracking down on those who facilitate such activities.