JERUSALEM (AP) — At least three people were killed in a knife attack near Tel Aviv Thursday night, Israeli doctors said.
Police said they suspect it was a militant attack and that the assailant fled in a vehicle. Security forces blocked the roads around where the killings took place, in the town of Elad, and a helicopter could be seen flying over the area.
The Magen David Adom emergency service said three people were killed and four others were injured; Two of the injured were in serious condition.
The Palestinian militant group Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, praised the attack and linked it to violence at a holy site in Jerusalem, but did not claim responsibility.
“The assault on the Al-Aqsa mosque cannot go unpunished,” Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said. “The heroic operation in Tel Aviv is a practical translation of what the resistance had warned about.”
Israel marked its Independence Day on Thursday, a festive national holiday where people often barbecue and attend air shows.
So far the identity of the attacker is unknown. But tensions between Israelis and Palestinians have soared in recent weeks, following a series of attacks in Israel, military operations in the occupied West Bank and violence at the Jerusalem holy site.
The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound is the third holiest site in Islam and is built on top of a hill that is the holiest site for Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount. It is at the emotional heart of the conflict, and Palestinians and Israeli police have clashed there repeatedly in recent weeks.
israeli police entered the site to clear Palestinian protesters on Thursday, after Jewish visits that had been paused for the Muslim holidays resumed.
When the visits resumed, dozens of Palestinians gathered and chanted “God is the greatest.” Fights broke out when the police went to arrest one of them. Police fired rubber-coated bullets at the sprawling esplanade as some Palestinians took refuge inside the mosque. Police could later be seen just inside an entrance to the mosque barricaded.
Police said they responded to dozens of people shouting incitements and throwing stones, and one policeman was slightly injured. The Palestinian Red Crescent emergency service said two Palestinians were taken to a hospital after being beaten with batons.
Unlike previous clashes, Palestinian witnesses said there was initially no stone throwing. Some of those who took refuge inside the mosque began to throw stones and other objects when the police entered the building. The witnesses spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
Under informal arrangements known as the status quo, Jews can visit the site but not pray there. In recent years, they have come in increasing numbers with police escorts and many have prayed quietly, angering Palestinians and neighboring Jordan, who is the site’s custodian. Palestinians have long feared that Israel plans to eventually take over the site or partition it.
Israel says it is committed to maintaining the status quo and accuses the Islamic militant group Hamas of inciting the recent violence.
—Updated at 3:14 pm
Reference-thehill.com