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A 'day of rage': What 24 hours of terror in Israel looked like

Three Israelis and three Palestinians, including two attackers, died on Tuesday and the violence shows no sign of abating

Lizzie Dearden
Wednesday 14 October 2015 17:15 BST
Israeli paramilitary police officers walk near the scene of a stabbing in Jerusalem October 12, 2015.
Israeli paramilitary police officers walk near the scene of a stabbing in Jerusalem October 12, 2015. (Reuters)

At least seven Israelis and 31 Palestinians, including attackers, children and protesters have been killed in two weeks of violence.

Tuesday saw the worst day of bloodshed since tensions erupted last month, seeing three Israelis and three Palestinians – including two attackers – killed, and many injured in less than 24 hours.

Here is how it unfolded:

8.50am (6.50am BST)

Raanana: A Palestinian suspect stabs a 32-year-old man waiting at a bus stop outside a shopping centre. The man was wounded in his stomach and neck, but managed to fight off his attacker and passers-by caught and held the man until police arrived.

Israeli forensic experts inspect the scene of a stabbing attack carried out by a Palestinian man in the Israeli city of Raanana on October 13, 2015. (AFP/Getty Images)

10am (8am BST)

Jerusalem: Two Palestinian men board the number 78 bus in Armon Hanatziv and shoot and stab passengers. Two Israeli men aged 78 and 45 died of their injuries and at least a dozen passengers were wounded. The attackers were shot, with one dying of his injuries.

Israeli medics and police inspect the scene of a shooting attack in Jerusalem, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2015. (AP)

10.10am (8.10am BST)

Jerusalem: A driver rams into a crowd on Malchei Israel Street before getting out the car and attacking an Israeli man with a meat cleaver, who died of his injuries. Two other people were injured and the attacker was shot and died later in hospital.

Israeli emergency personnel working at the scene of an attack in Malchei Israel Street, Jerusalem, Israel, 13 October 2015 (EPA)

10.40am (8.40am BST)

Raanana: A 28-year-old man from East Jerusalem stabs four people sitting outside a café, wounding one seriously and three lightly. He was chased by bystanders and caught after being hit by a car.

Israeli security forces and emergency personnel gather at the scene of a stabbing attack carried out by a Palestinian man in the Israeli city of Raanana on October 13, 2015. (AFP/Getty Images)

11.30am (9.30am BST)

Netanya: A family from the Palestinian town of Taybeh, in the West Bank, are attacked by a man wielding a baton on Sironit Beach. The Jerusalem Post reported that the man fled, leaving one of the sons slightly wounded.

An Arab family were attacked on a beach in Netanya (Getty Images)

12pm (10am BST)

Kiryat Ata: A 36-year-old Orthodox Jewish man stabs a fellow Israeli Jewish man in a suspected revenge attack, mistakenly believing his victim was an Arab. Uriel Razkan, 22, survived the attack and the suspect was arrested.

Uriel Razkan, an Israeli Jew, was stabbed by an Orthodox Jewish man who believed he was an Arab. (Xinhua News Agency/REX S)

5.30pm (3.30pm)

Bethlehem: A 28-year-old Palestinian man, Moataz Zawahra, dies of his injuries after being shot during clashes with Israeli security forces near a refugee camp in the West Bank. The circumstances of his shooting are unclear.

The funeral of Moataz Zawahra, a 28-year-old Palestinian who was killed in clashes with Israeli security forces, near Bethlehem on 14 October (AFP/Getty Images)

6pm (4pm BST)

Israel: Shots fired at Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) vehicle during clashes and protests along the boundary with Gaza, according to its official spokesperson. Several people were injured when soldiers fired on crowds.

A Palestinian protester pushes a burning tire during clashes with Israeli security forces near the Nahal Oz border crossing with Israel, east of Gaza City on October 10, 2015. (AFP/Getty Images)

8pm (6pm BST)

Hebron: Rocks are thrown at cars near the West Bank city on Highway 60, the IDF reports. One person was lightly injured.

Members of the Israeli armed forces take up positions during clashes with Palestinian protesters in Hebron (EPA)

Unknown

Northern Israel: Two Israeli men are arrested on suspicion of intending to attack an Arab man with a knife in northern Israel, police said according to the Times of Israel.

All timings are approximate. Information from the Israeli police and Israeli Defence Forces unless otherwise stated.

Hamas, the Palestinian political party and Islamist group, had declared Tuesday a “Day of Rage” and leaders of Israel’s Arab minority called a general strike.

The bloodshed showed no sign of abating today as a Palestinian was killed by police during an attempted stabbing in Jerusalem and another Palestinian man was shot dead after stabbing a 70-year-old woman near the city’s central bus station.

Angry protests continued along the Gaza border and police fired tear gas and stun grenades at crowds in clashes following a funeral in Bethlehem.

There have been several reported “revenge” attacks by Israelis, including a stabbing spree that wounded Palestinian and Arab men in Dimona on Friday.

In Jerusalem the previous evening, activists from the anti-Arab Lehava group, along with far-right football fans, marched to the Old City chanting slogans including “death to the Arabs” and “Mohamed is dead.”

In the coastal city of Netanya on Thursday, a mob beat an Arab man. Five Israelis were arrested.

The current round of tensions erupted over the Jewish New Year, fuelled by continuing rumours that Muslim control of the Noble Sanctuary in Jerusalem – also known as Temple Mount – could be eroded.

Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied the claims and issued a statement blaming the violence on “incitement by radical Islamist and terrorist elements (and) inflammatory statements by Palestinian leaders”.

It said the government remained committed to peace talks with the Palestinian leadership and said it would work to restore calm.

But Manuel Hassassian, the Palestinian Authority's diplomatic representative to the UK, issued a statement accusing Israel of “killing Palestinians with impunity” and defying international law.

“Until justice is done and the perpetrators of violence are held accountable, whether they are Israeli soldiers who disregard Palestinian lives or armed vigilantes from the illegal Israeli settlements, there will be no end to this very worrying, current spate of violence,” he said.

The UK’s minister for the Middle East, Tobias Elwood, urged all parties to refrain from violence as he voiced the British Government’s “extreme concern”.

“We condemn the terrorist attacks in Jerusalem on 13 October which have resulted in the deaths of a number of Israeli citizens, as well as other attacks which have left multiple innocent civilians wounded,” he added.

“We are also concerned by the use of force by Israeli security personnel in response to protests and security incidents, which has resulted in several deaths and thousands of injuries.

“We urge all parties to refrain from violence, and encourage Israeli and Palestinian leaders to actively de-escalate the situation and avoid measures which could further fuel tensions.”

Additional reporting by agencies

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