American teen, 4 others killed in West Bank, Tel Aviv violence

Michele Chabin and Doug Stanglin | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Two dead in Palestinian stabbing attack in Tel Aviv, Israeli police say A Palestinian attacker fatally stabbed two people in a Tel Aviv office building on Thursday, police said, raising to 16 the number of Israelis who have died, along with 79 Palestinians, in a wave of violence over the past seven weeks.

JERUSALEM — An American teen was among five people killed Thursday in a pair of attacks by Palestinians, including a stabbing at an office building in Tel Aviv.

The Jewish Agency for Israel identified the American as Ezra Schwartz, 18, a student at Yeshivat Ashreinu, a school in the town of Beit Shemesh, and a participant in Masa Israel Journey, a study abroad program.

Micky Rosenfeld, Israel police spokesman, confirmed an American died of his wounds Thursday in a Palestinian attack in the West Bank.

Natan Sharansky, chairman of the executive at the Jewish Agency, said he spoke to Schwartz's family and expressed deep condolences. He also offered any and all assistance to the family. “Ezra came to Israel not only to study but also to be a part of the vibrant Israeli experience," he said. "This makes his death even more tragic.”

The Jerusalem Post reported Schwartz was pronounced dead at the scene after paramedics attempted to resuscitate him. The other two victims were a 50-year-old Jewish Israeli man and a 40-year-old Palestinian, Haaretz reported.

Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said a shooter opened fire on an Israeli car from his vehicle. The Israeli military said the vehicle fled the scene and “intentionally” rammed his vehicle into a group of pedestrians. The military said forces at the scene shot at the attacker, “identifying a hit,” although the attacker’s condition was not known. The attack took place in Gush Etzion, an area south of Jerusalem.

In addition, a knife-wielding Palestinian man fatally stabbed two Israeli men in a southern Tel Aviv office building before being apprehended, police and witnesses said.

Thursday’s violence brings the number of Israelis killed in the wave of violence to 17. At least 82 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire, 52 of them said by Israel to be attackers, the remainder killed in clashes with Israeli troops.

Much of the recent unrest has focused on the West Bank city of Hebron, a frequent flashpoint. But the attack in Israel’s economic hub of Tel Aviv returned the violence to the Israeli heartland, shattering a lull that had set in outside of the West Bank and stoking Israeli fears that a full-fledged Palestinian uprising could erupt.

The Palestinians say the violence is rooted in frustration at decades of living under Israeli occupation, while Israel accuses Palestinian leaders of inciting the unrest. This week Israel outlawed an Islamic party, accusing it of fanning the flames and inciting Arab citizens of Israel to violence.

Israel has beefed up security across the country in recent weeks, sending soldiers to patrol cities alongside thousands of police. It has set up checkpoints and concrete barriers in Arab areas of east Jerusalem, where many of the attackers have come from. Still, authorities have failed to halt the seemingly spontaneous attacks.

Police said the stabbing took place in a shop on the second floor of an expansive office building where a group of Israelis had gathered to hold afternoon prayers.

Shimon Vaknin, a witness, told reporters that a bloodied man stumbled into the room where he prayed with companions in Tel Aviv.

“He was stabbed outside, he was all slashed and bloody. We were in shock. We didn’t know what happened and then someone near the door shouted there’s a terrorist,” Vaknin said, according to the Associated Press. He described a dramatic standoff with the worshippers standing against the closed shop door as the assailant tried to force his way in.

Samri said the attacker was apprehended by civilians and identified him as Raed Khalil bin Mahmoud, a 36-year-old Palestinian father of five from the West Bank village of Dura, near Hebron.

It was not immediately clear what he was doing in Tel Aviv, although many Palestinians are granted permits to work in Israel. Israeli Channel 2 TV said the man worked illegally at a nearby restaurant.

Although Tel Aviv and its surrounding suburbs have seen a number of attacks during the latest wave of violence, much of the recent unrest has been concentrated around Hebron, a city where several hundred Jewish settlers live in heavily guarded enclaves among thousands of Palestinians. Near the city last week, two Israelis, a father and son, were killed in their car on their way to dinner.

The violence erupted in mid-September over tensions surrounding a Jerusalem holy site and quickly spread further into Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

The attacks have Israelis on edge. Several politicians have urged licensed gun owners to carry their weapons and there have been several bloody accidents.

In one case, an Israeli man stabbed a fellow Jew, thinking his victim was an Arab because of his dark skin, and a security guard shot an Eritrean migrant he thought was an attacker during a bus station shooting last month.

Contributing: Associated Press. Stanglin reported from McLean, Va.