American among 5 killed in attacks

Associated Press

JERUSALEM

A pair of stabbing and shooting attacks carried out by Palestinians killed three Israelis, a Palestinian and an American teenager Thursday in one of the deadliest days in a recent outburst of Israeli-Palestinian violence.

The attacks are part of a wave of violence that erupted in mid-September over tensions surrounding a Jerusalem holy site sacred to Jews and Muslims.

In Thursday’s first attack, a knife-wielding man stabbed and killed two Israelis as several of them gathered for afternoon prayers at an office building in the Israeli commercial center of Tel Aviv. Witness Shimon Vaknin said he saw a bloodied man stumble into the room where he prayed with companions.

Hours later, a Palestinian motorist opened fire on a line of cars stuck in traffic in Gush Etzion, south of Jerusalem in the West Bank.

The Israeli military said he then intentionally rammed his vehicle into a group of pedestrians. The military said soldiers shot at the attacker, although his condition and identity were not known.

That attack killed three people, including an Israeli and 18-year-old American Ezra Schwartz, who was studying in Israel.