The attacks have heightened fears of further violence in April, when the convergence of three religious holidays has leaders on edge.
Four Israelis were killed in a knife and car-ramming attack in Beersheba, in southern Israel, on Tuesday afternoon, in the third attack on Israeli Jews in less than a week. The attacker rammed and killed a cyclist with his car outside a gas station, before entering the gas station and stabbing a woman to death, a police commander, Peretz Amar, said in a briefing near the crime scene. The attacker then returned to his car, drove to a nearby shopping center and stabbed three women, one of whom died, the commander said. The attacker then drove to a nearby roundabout, crashed into a second car, got out and stabbed to death a fourth civilian, the commander said. Two armed passers-by tried to pacify the attacker before shooting him when he tried to stab one of them, according to video uploaded to social media on Tuesday evening. The attacker later died of his wounds, the police spokesman said. The attack was the latest instance of an uptick in stabbing attacks by Palestinians across the country in recent weeks. A Jewish jogger was stabbed and injured on Saturday while running through a residential district of West Jerusalem. A day later, two Israeli police officers were stabbed and injured in East Jerusalem.
