Israel: Four dead in stabbing and ramming car attack
Israeli police seal off the scene of a knife attack outside a shopping mall in the southern city of Beersheba on March 22, 2022. AFP - AHMAD GHARABLI
Text by: RFI Follow
3 mins
The assailant, who killed four people in the main city of the Negev desert, was neutralized by a passerby.
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A total of eight minutes was enough for Ghaleb Abu al-Qian, a 34-year-old Bedouin of Israeli nationality, to kill 4 people and injure five others in Beersheba, the capital of the Negev, in what is one of the deadliest attacks. in recent years in the country.
According to Israeli police, the suspect, who has not been identified, stabbed a woman at a gas station, then ran over a cyclist with his car before continuing on to a nearby shopping mall.
He then got out of his vehicle to stab a man and a woman.
It was finally a bus driver who confronted him and shot him with his personal weapon.
Throughout this frantic race, the police did not intervene, reports our correspondent in Jerusalem,
Michel Paul
.
A former teacher, the assailant had been in prison for having formed a cell that planned to go to Syria to fight within the Islamic State organization, and for sermons praising the jihadist group.
In a statement, the Bedouin al-Kiyan clan "
strongly
" condemned the attack, an "
individual
" act it said, "
which does not represent the law-abiding members of the clan who have always advocated living together
".
“ Terrorist
”
act
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett offered his condolences to the families of the victims of this "
terrorist
" act and praised the "
courage
" of the civilians who opened fire on the assailant to "
avoid even more victims
", while promising a response strong against terrorism.
The Israeli security forces have notably been placed on “high alert”.
The far-right parties deplore what they describe as the laxity of the current government.
For their part, the Arab deputies are divided.
Some condemn the attack.
Others believe that it will be the pretext for racist acts against the Bedouin community in Israel.
In a statement, the moderate Islamist party Raam, which concentrates its support among the Bedouins of the Negev and supports the current coalition government of Prime Minister Bennett, "
strongly " condemned the "
criminal
" attack
.
"
Raam calls on all citizens to maintain coexistence, act responsibly and promote a discourse of tolerance and wisdom...
" the party said.
In the evening, in the parking lot of the shopping center where the attack took place, a dozen ultranationalist Jews gathered with Israeli flags, singing "
death to the Arabs
", noted an AFP journalist.
►Also read: Israel: tensions with the Bedouins in the Negev
Beginning in October 2015 and continuing for months, Jerusalem, the occupied West Bank and Israel were the scene of
anti-Israeli stabbing attacks
most often committed by unaccompanied Palestinian youths.
While such attacks have since declined, they continue to occur sporadically, particularly in recent weeks, typically in the West Bank and
East Jerusalem
, two Palestinian territories occupied by Israel.
“
I am increasingly concerned about the daily violence in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and in Israel.
This is the seventh stabbing attack against Israelis this month
,” commented the UN envoy for the Middle East, Tor Wennesland.
Many fear a resurgence of tension as the month of Ramadan approaches.
King Abdullah of Jordan, who wants to be the guardian of the esplanade of the mosques in Jerusalem, could go to Ramallah in the coming days to calm the situation.
(
With AFP
)
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Israel
Terrorism
Naftali Bennett