One man is dead and seven have been left with injuries after a terrorist car-ramming attack in Tel Aviv on Friday night.
A car-ramming attack in Tel Aviv that left one man dead and seven others injured follows the shooting to death of two British-Israeli sisters in the country’s West Bank amid a spike in violence coinciding with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
According to a report by The Times of Israel, the incident occurred on the Kaufmann Street promenade late on Friday night, with “Arab Israeli” male Kafr Qassem mounting a bicycle lane in a car before hitting a number of foreign tourists from Italy and the United Kingdom enjoying a walk by the seashore.
Footage of the attack then shows the car careering off the road, eventually flipping as it ground to a halt.
Qassem was subsequently shot dead by Israeli police, with officers reportedly believing that the attacker was reaching for a weapon when they approached him.
Video uploaded by Israeli news portal Walla News showing officers firing multiple shots at what is believed to be the attacker, who is on the ground.
The incident — which is being treated as a terrorist attack by Israeli authority — is reported to have killed one man, Italian national Alessandro Parini.
Seven others were also injured as a result of the attack, though media reports indicate that only three needed hospitalisation, all of whom are now described as being in good condition.
Government officials from Italy, Israel and the United States have all condemned the attack, with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni denouncing the attack as “cowardly”.
“Deep sorrow and condolences for the death of one of our nationals, Alessandro Parini, in the terrorist attack that took place in the evening in Tel Aviv,” the right-wing leader wrote on Twitter. “Condolences to the victim’s family, to the wounded, and solidarity with the State of Israel for the cowardly attack that hit him.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is meanwhile said to have fully mobilised all police and army reserves in the country, seemingly in the hopes of curbing further incidents.
The apparent terror attack has been linked to the apparently annual uptick in violence coinciding with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Overlapping with the Jewish holiday of Passover this year, the month has already seen a number of killings perpetrated at the hands of Islamic extremists, with two British-Israeli sisters being shot dead in the West Bank yesterday.
Described as having moved to Israel in 2005, the attack on the two girls also reportedly left their mother with serious injuries, resulting in her being airlifted to hospital.
In response to the attack, the UK foreign office called for a de-escalation of tensions in the region.
“We are saddened to hear about the deaths of two British-Israeli citizens and the serious injuries sustained by a third individual,” a spokesman for the department said.
“The UK calls for all parties across the region to de-escalate tensions,” they went on to say.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.