Israeli police officers look for evidence near the scene of a stabbing attack in the neighbourhood of Jaffa in Tel Aviv. Photograph: Thomas Coex/AFP/Getty Images
Peter Beaumont in Jerusalem-Tuesday 8 March 2016
Three attacks by Palestinians in the space of just over an hour and a half have left one dead and at least 13 injured across
Israel, in incidents that included a mass stabbing in Jaffa during a visit by the US vice-president, Joe Biden.
Israeli police later confirmed that the person killed in Jaffa was a 29-year-old American tourist who was pronounced dead on arrival at a hospital in Holon. There were no details on the American’s identity.
In the spate of attacks on Tuesday evening – in East Jerusalem, Petah Tikva and Jaffa – attackers used guns and knives against both Israeli police and passersby in one of the of the worst recent days in several months of almost daily attacks.
They coincided with the arrival of Biden on Tuesday for meetings with Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.
Biden was reportedly visiting the Peres Centre for Peace, a mile away from where the stabbing took place.
Initial accounts of the attacks were confused and contradictory. Biden was kept informed of the unfolding incidents but chose to continue with his schedule.
The worst incident saw a Palestinian stab three Israelis near Jaffa’s port before attacking three more near a popular restaurant on the city’s boardwalk.
According to reports, victims were stabbed at three locations during the 20 minute long attack as the assailant ran several hundred metres along the sea front. Among those seriously injured was the US tourist’s wife.
Video footage from the scene appeared to show a man in dark trousers and a grey hooded top running beside a traffic jam, apparently attempting to stab occupants through an open car window.
The Magen David Adom ambulance service said four of the wounded from the Jaffa incident had suffered severe injuries.
“The terrorist then continued to stab the man, and stabbed him in the leg. I was in my car. I ran to him, took the aluminium pylon, and hit the terrorist in the back. He tried to stab me, then he ran.”
A second eyewitness added: “I was in my office and I heard screams. I saw a young man wearing a hoodie who was attacking a woman. She was a tourist. There were screams and then a man carrying an aluminium rod ran towards them.”
“I heard two guys screaming that there was an attack,” said a woman who gave her name as Emily.
“I ran in the opposite direction and ran into a man who was on the ground in his blood.” She said she “covered him with my jacket. He was badly injured and we waited together for the ambulances to come.”
The assailant, later identified as a 22-year year old Palestinian man from Qalqiliya, was shot dead by police as he tried to flee towards neighbouring Tel Aviv. Hospital officials later reported that one of those stabbed had died of their injuries.
The series of assaults began with an attack on an ultra-orthodox man who was followed into a liquor store in Petah Tikvah and stabbed. The victim and the shop’s owner managed to overpower the assailant, who was reportedly stabbed to death with his own weapon.
Jerusalem was the scene of the second attack shortly after, when a gunman opened fire on Israeli police in Salah e-Din street in east Jerusalem, seriously injuring two officers before he was killed himself.
Police later identified the gunman as Fouad Tamimi, 25, from the east Jerusalem neighbourhood of Isawiya.
The latest attacks comes in the midst of a wave of violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories which since October has seen about 183 Palestinians and 28 Israelis killed.
The spate of attacks was welcomed by the Islamist group Hamas although it did not claim direct responsibility.
A large number of Palestinians have been killed while carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks, according to Israeli authorities. Others were shot dead by Israeli forces during clashes or demonstrations.
The latest incidents of violence prompted political opponents of Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu to criticise his handling of the months-long crisis.
The joint leader of the Zionist Union and former peace negotiator Tzipi Livni said: “The terror wave will not subside on its own, the Biden visit is an opportunity to lower the flames.”
Biden is due to meet Netanyahu and Abbas on Wednesday.
Before Tuesday’s violence, Biden’s visit had been overshadowed by a new blow to the rocky relationship between US president Barack Obama and Netanyahu.
Netanyahu’s decision not to accept an invitation for talks with Obama in Washington later this month “surprised” the White House, which first learned of it through news reports.
The Israeli premier’s office defended the decision by saying Netanyahu did not want to interfere in US presidential primary elections.
Obama and Netanyahu’s testy personal relationship was worsened by the Israeli premier’s forceful opposition to the Iran nuclear deal, including in a speech to the US Congress.
But they have sought to set aside their disagreements in recent months and work out a new 10-year defence aid package for Israel as well as demonstrate that the ties between the two traditional allies remain strong.
Biden’s visit comes with Obama having acknowledged there will be no comprehensive agreement between Israelis and Palestinians before he leaves office in January 2017.
Mar 08, 2016
