Palestinian shot dead after Beersheba attack kills Israeli, wounds 9
Oct. 18, 2015 8:00 P.M. (Updated: Oct. 18, 2015 10:35 P.M.)
▻http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=768337
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — A suspected Palestinian was shot dead in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba after he allegedly opened fire in the city’s central bus station, killing one soldier and injuring at least nine other Israelis, Israeli police said.
Israeli police spokesperson Micky Rosenfeld told Ma’an that nine Israelis had been hospitalized following the attack.
He said the attacker was shot dead, although he was unable to confirm that he was Palestinian.
He initially said that there had been two attackers, one of whom was apprehended.
Although it remained clear who the second individual was, Israeli media suggested the second man may have been an Eritrean asylum seeker.
Israeli news site Haaretz reported that the asylum seeker was shot by Israeli police after they “misidentified him as a terrorist.”
Haaretz quoted the southern district chief of police, Deputy Commissioner Yoram Levi, as saying that after killing the Israeli soldier, the attacker “took the soldier’s gun and continued shooting in the central bus station.”
“Forces in the area responded quickly, he managed to escape the central bus station but ran into forces, was shot and killed. In his belongings we found a knife and a pistol with ammunition.”
Rosenfeld said that the area around the central bus station was closed off.
The attack follows a series of stabbing attacks that have left seven Israelis dead since the beginning of the month.
Some 42 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in the same period — some after carrying out the alleged attacks, but others at demonstrations.
There have been clashes across Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory.
They were prompted by Israeli army and settler reprisals after four Israelis were killed in two separate attacks at the beginning of October, although tensions had been mounting for weeks.