Families Mourn Victims of Northern Israel Terror Attack

As details of the attack emerged, the families of the victims shared brief but heartbreaking tributes.

By United with Israel Staff

A deadly terror attack swept through northern Israel on Friday, leaving two people dead and several others wounded in a series of vehicle-ramming and stabbing assaults carried out by a single attacker, Israeli authorities said.

The attacks began in Beit She’an, where a 68-year-old man, Shimshon Mordechai, was killed after being struck by a vehicle in what police identified as a terrorist attack. The assailant then fled the scene and continued south.

Minutes later, the attacker reached Route 71 near Kibbutz Ein Harod, where he rammed a vehicle into pedestrians and then exited the car, stabbing Aviv Maor, 19, to death. A 16-year-old boy was also struck in a separate ramming incident and sustained light injuries.

According to Magen David Adom, emergency responders received the call at 12:31 p.m., and Aviv was evacuated to HaEmek Medical Center in Afula, where she was pronounced dead.

Police said the terrorist, a 37-year-old Palestinian man from Qabatiya near Jenin, fled in his employer’s vehicle and was later shot and killed by security forces near the entrance to Afula, bringing the deadly spree to an end.

As details of the attack emerged, the families of the victims shared brief but heartbreaking tributes.

The family of Shimshon Mordechai said they are in deep mourning following the loss of a devoted husband, father, and grandfather.

In a statement released Saturday night, they described him as a man of faith and values, married to his wife Sara for 42 years and a loving grandfather to six grandchildren. The family asked for privacy as they grieve what they called a “hard and painful blow.”

The parents of Aviv Maor, a resident of Ein Harod, also spoke publicly in the aftermath of the attack.

Her father, Tal Maor, shared an emotional farewell on social media, describing an unbearable loss and a daughter taken too soon. “The abyss is bottomless. The soul is shattered,” he wrote, calling Aviv “our beautiful angel.”

Aviv’s mother, Einat, later told Maariv that her daughter was the emotional center of their family, deeply close to her parents and to her younger sister, whom she described as being like a twin to her. She said Aviv was known for her kindness and sense of responsibility toward others.

Einat also shared details of Aviv’s final moments with Israel’s N12 News.

Aviv had driven a close friend to a bus stop outside the kibbutz and insisted on waiting with him until the bus arrived. When the attacker tried and failed to run them over, he chased them on foot, ultimately pursuing Aviv and stabbing her as she fled into nearby fields.

“She didn’t have to wait,” Einat said quietly. “But she did. That was Aviv. Pure kindness.”