Woman killed and 10 injured in shooting in southern Israel

A policewoman has been killed and 10 others injured in a shooting in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba, local authorities said.

The gunman was shot dead at the scene after what police described as a “suspected terror attack” at the city’s central bus station.

The victim has been named as Shira Chaya Suslik, 19, a sergeant from Israel’s border police.

Israel’s ambulance service said medics are treating ten people for injuries, some of whom suffered gunshot wounds.

One of the injured is in a “moderate to serious” condition and four others are in a “moderate condition”, the ambulance service said.

They have been taken to the nearby Soroka Hospital.

Police said a preliminary investigation showed the gunman was “eliminated in a few seconds by the security forces” who were there.

Shortly after the attack, Israel’s Transport Minister Miri Regev called for the families of “terrorists” to be deported from the country.

“The time has come for a deterrent punishment to prevent the attacks on Israeli territory,” she wrote on X.

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid described the attack as “severe and despicable”, writing on X “we must act hard against terrorism”.

Last week, seven people were killed in a shooting and knife attack in Tel Aviv after a gunman opened fire at members of the public in the Jaffa area.

Israeli authorities have said they are on high alert across the country ahead of the one year anniversary of Hamas’s assault on southern Israel on 7 October last year, which triggered the current Gaza war.