Three attacks by Palestinians in the space of just over an hour and a half left one dead and at least 13 injured across Israel on Tuesday evening, in incidents that including a mass stabbing in Jaffa during a visit to the coastal city by US vice-president Joe Biden.
Israeli police later confirmed that the person killed in Jaffa was a 29-year-old American tourist who was pronounced dead on arrival at a hospital in Holon. There were no details on the American’s identity.
In the spate of attacks – in east Jerusalem, Petah Tikva and Jaffa – attackers used guns and knives against both Israeli police and passersby in one of the of the worst recent days in several months of almost daily attacks.
They coincided with the arrival of Biden on Tuesday for meetings with Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.
Biden was reportedly visiting the Peres Centre for Peace, a mile away from where the stabbing took place. Initial accounts of the attacks were confused and contradictory. Biden was kept informed of the unfolding incidents but chose to continue with his schedule.