BICOM

Five people were killed in two separate attacks by Palestinian men yesterday afternoon, making it the most deadly day since the current wave of violence began at the start of October.

The first incident took place at a busy office block in south Tel Aviv, where the assailant attempted to stab worshippers who had gathered for afternoon prayers. The first victim stumbled wounded into the synagogue, alerting other worshippers who blocked the attacker’s access. However, he then stabbed several other people in the building, killing 51-year-old Reuven Aviram and 32-year-old Aharon Yesiav, wounding two others. In a rare occurrence, the 36-year-old Palestinian terrorist from near Hebron, had a legal work permit in Israel. He was seriously wounded by security personnel and arrested.

Less than three hours later, a Palestinian armed with a gun drove along the hard shoulder of a traffic jam between the West Bank settlement of Alon Shvut and the nearby Gush Etzion junction, which has been the scene of several attacks during the past few weeks. Taking advantage of the slow moving traffic, the terrorist opened fire on vehicles killing three people, before ramming his car into another nearby vehicle. The victims were 18-year-old American gap year student Ezra Schwartz, 49-year-old Yaakov Don, and 40-year-old Shadi Arafa, a Palestinian citizen of Hebron. The assailant, 24-year-old Mohammed al-Kharoub from near Hebron, was disarmed and arrested at the scene.

Yesterday’s attacks signalled an end to a relative lull in the violence, which has now seen 19 Israelis killed, mainly in stabbing and vehicle attacks. The attacks at first centred on Jerusalem but the Hebron region in the southern West Bank has also become an epicentre of violence. However, attacks have also taken place in central Israeli cities including Tel Aviv, Ra’anana, Netanya and Beit Shemesh.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged yesterday, “There is no immunity for terrorists” and commented, “Whoever condemned the attacks in France needs to condemn the attacks in Israel. It’s the same terror.”