Three new stabbing attacks hit Israel, West Bank

Three new stabbings wounded Israelis on Thursday and one of the assailants was shot dead as a spate of such attacks spread fear and defied attempts by authorities to contain Palestinian unrest.

There have been at least eight stabbing attacks since Saturday, when a Palestinian killed two Israelis in Jerusalem’s Old City, helping to prompt a security crackdown.

Riots have also spread in east Jerusalem and the West Bank.

The first attack on Thursday saw a Palestinian stab a 25-year-old Jewish man in Jerusalem, leaving him in serious condition. The attacker was arrested.

Later in the day, an Israeli soldier and three passers-by were stabbed in Tel Aviv and the attacker was killed.

The suspect stabbed the victims, who were lightly wounded, with a screwdriver before another soldier in the area shot him dead, police said.

They did not provide further details on the Tel Aviv attacker apart from identifying him as a “terrorist”.

In the third attack, a Palestinian stabbed an Israeli near the Kiryat Arba Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank, the military said. The victim was severely wounded and the attacker fled.

The stabbings have deeply unnerved Israelis and authorities have struggled to prevent them. The suspects are often young Palestinians believed to be acting on their own.

The attacks and rioting have sparked fears of a broader uprising and even a third intifada.