JERUSALEM – Four Israelis were killed Tuesday afternoon in a knife and car-ram attack in Beersheba, southern Israel, in the third attack on Israeli Jews in less than a week.
The attacker rammed and killed a bicyclist with his car outside a gas station before entering the gas station and stabbing a woman to death, a police chief, Peretz Amar, said in a briefing near the crime scene.
The attacker returned to his car, drove to a nearby shopping center and stabbed three women, one of whom died, the commander said. The attacker then drove to a nearby roundabout, crashed into a second car, got out and stabbed a fourth civilian to death, the commander said.
Two armed passers-by tried to pacify the attacker before shooting him as he attempted to stab one of them, according to video uploaded on social media Tuesday evening. The attacker later died of his injuries, the police spokesman said.
The attack was the latest example of an increase in stabbing attacks by Palestinians across the country in recent weeks. A Jewish jogger was stabbed and injured on Saturday as he ran through a residential area of West Jerusalem. A day later, two Israeli police officers were stabbed and injured in East Jerusalem.
The attack was the first of its kind in Beersheba since 2015. Beersheba, a sleepy town at the northern end of the Negev desert. tensions over ownership of nearby land claimed by Arab Bedouins.
The spate of recent attacks has heightened fears of violence in April — when the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the Jewish holiday of Passover and the Christian holiday of Easter unusually all fall at the same time. Ramadan is often a period of high tension in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza; tensions over Ramadan fueled the war in Gaza last May, and officials and analysts fear the convergence of three religious festivals could further fuel relations.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met with leaders of Egypt and the United Arab Emirates in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on Tuesday. The three did not detail the content of their discussion, but analysts said at least some of the focus was on the potential for violence in East Jerusalem and the West Bank in the coming weeks.
Jordanian King Abdullah II is also expected to visit the West Bank later this month in an effort to ease tensions, Palestinian officials said this week.
The attack in Beersheba followed nearby protests and clashes between Israel’s Arab citizens and the Israeli police. Bedouin residents in the area are resisting attempts by Israel to plant a forest on what some Bedouin families say is their ancestral land — a disagreement that for many Palestinians is symbolic of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel says the families have never had legal ownership of the plots.
Tuesday’s attack has been praised by two Islamist militant groups, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, although neither has claimed responsibility. Israeli media reported that the attacker was a teacher from a nearby Bedouin town who had served a prison term after admitting to supporting the Islamic State, the terrorist group that once controlled large parts of Iraq and Syria.
Leading Arab politicians in Israel condemned the attack, including Mansour Abbas, an Islamist leader who made history last year by becoming the first Arab Israeli to lead an independent Arab party in a governing coalition.
Mr Abbas wrote on social media that his party, Raam, “condemns the criminal terror attack” and “sends its condolences to the families of the murdered and wishes a full recovery to the injured.”
He added: “The Arab citizens will obey the law and condemn anyone who uses violence against other citizens. Raam calls on all citizens to protect the delicate fabric of communal life, show responsibility and engage in a tolerant dialogue at this difficult time.”
Jonathan Rosen reporting contributed.
