Three Israelis stabbed near bus station in Tel Aviv

Three Israelis were stabbed by a Palestinian man next to the central bus station in Rishon Letzion, south of Tel Aviv on Monday.

Peter Lerner, an Israeli army spokesperson, said that the Palestinian was a 19 year-old from Hebron who was arrested by Israeli security forces following a “stabbing spree on the streets of Rishon Letzion”.

At least one of the Israelis stabbed sustained severe wounds. Two were transferred to the Asaf Harofeh hospital for treatment.

Israel’s emergency services said that a 40-year-old man and an 80-year-old woman were injured severely, and that a third man in his 20s suffered from light to moderate injuries.

Local Israeli reports described the Palestinian man as trying to flee by taking refuge inside one of the nearby shops before civilians succeeded in capturing him and handing him over to the police.

According to Israeli daily Ynet, dozens of people gathered at the scene after the wounded were taken to the hospital, holding images of ultra-nationalist Meir Kahane and signs reading "Jewish blood is not cheap" and shouting "death to terrorists".

Over the past few days, various Israeli media outlets have voiced their concern regarding Hebron, where the majority of Palestinians killed are from.

An Israeli was severely wounded in a second attack inside of Israel on Monday. The attacker, a 22 year old Palestinian man from the West Bank town of Tulkarem, was shot by Israeli forces on the scene in the coastal town of Netanya, after allegedly stabbing an elderly Israeli man.

After a couple of weeks where alleged stabbing attacks have been confined to the West Bank, with the last attack in Israel carried out on 22 October, the latest stabbing in Tel Aviv by a non-Israeli citizen will no doubt cause heightened concern for Israel’s security forces.

On Sunday, a Palestinian was shot dead by Israeli forces after allegedly attempting to stab an Israeli soldier at the Jalameh checkpoint in the northern occupied West Bank city of Jenin.

A second Palestinian described by Israeli police as an accomplice was arrested at the scene.

Nine Israelis as well as 72 Palestinians have been killed in a wave of violence since the start of October, raising fears of another Palestinian intifada or uprising.