PHOTO: Scene of the shooting in the Etzion bloc in the West Bank on Thursday (Magen David Adom)


Five people were killed and six others injured on Thursday in attacks in Israel’s Tel Aviv and near an Israeli settlement in the Palestinian West Bank.

The death toll was the highest in a day since a surge in Palestinian-Israeli violence from October 1 that has killed more than 100 people. They came after a lull of almost a week.

In Tel Aviv, two people were killed and two were injured in a stabbing attack in an office building as afternoon prayers were taking place.

The assailant was caught by passersby and arrested by police at the scene, and was taken to a hospital with light injuries. Police identified him as a 36-year-old Palestinian father of five from the West Bank village of Dura, near Hebron.

In the afternoon, three people were killed and four others injured in shooting near the Israeli settlement of Alon Shvut in the West Bank.

Israeli security forces said the attacker opened fire with an Uzi submachine gun from inside a car at Israeli vehicles. When he ran out of ammunition, he rammed his car into another automobile near the Gush Etzion settlement.
Security personnel disarmed and arrested the suspect.

A Jewish-American youth and a Palestinian man were among those killed. Official Palestinian sources claimed hte Palestinian victim was killed by Israeli forces who opened fire, while Israeli security forces say he was slain by the Palestinian gunman.

In the aftermath of the incidents, the Israeli Minister of Defense Moshe Ya’alon and the army’s chief of staff met the mayor of the Gush Etzion Regional Council, Officials are reportedly considering measures such as the temporary restriction of movement of Palestinians in the area, the deployment of extra Israeli security forces, and the construction of a “fence” along certain roads.

More than 80 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli security forces since October 1. Many of them have been shot after they attacked civilians and security personnel, while others have died in demonstrations.

At least 15 Israelis have been slain by Palestinian assailants, mainly in stabbings.