Israeli security forces have been put on maximum alert after four people were killed in Beersheva on Tuesday in the deadliest terrorist attack on Israeli civilians in nearly six years.
The terrorist, who was shot by an armed passerby, was a former schoolteacher who was released from prison in 2019 after serving four years to form a group planning to travel to Syria and join the Islamic State.
Muhammad Abu Alkiyan, 34, an Israeli citizen, was also convicted of teaching children and mosque-goers content inspired by ISIS.
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The last time four Israeli civilians were killed in a terrorist attack was in June 2016, when two guns opened fire at the Max Brenner restaurant in Tel Aviv’s Sarona market.
In the attack on Tuesday afternoon, Abu Alkiyan killed a woman at a gas station and got into his car and ran into a cyclist before getting out and killing a man and a woman outside a shopping mall, including with a knife.
It was the third knife attack in Israel this week after a 35-year-old man was strangled and slightly injured in Jerusalem on Saturday and two policemen were slightly injured when they were strangled in East Jerusalem on Sunday.
Defense Minister Benny Gantz confirmed that the incident prompted the Security Institute to raise alarm levels in Israel.
“We are on high alert against all threats in all areas,” he said. “We will make sure that everyone who encourages or supports the latest attacks pays a price.”
The victims of Tuesday’s attack were named Doris Yahbas, 49, a mother of three, Laura Yitzhak, 43, another mother of three, Rabbi Moshe Kravitzky, a father of four, and Menahem Yehezkel, 67.
Footage broadcast on Israeli television showed Abu Alkiyan standing at a roundabout outside the BIG shopping center, looking around while holding the knife in the air, and had already killed four people.
Before police could arrive at the scene, he was approached by an armed local bus driver, Arthur Chaimov, who tried to persuade him to drop the knife.
When Abu Alkiyan attacked Chaimov, another armed civilian shot at him.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett was in Egypt on Tuesday to meet with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Crown Prince Abu Dhabi of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.
Immediately after the attack, Bennett expressed his condolences and said that he was consulting with Internal Security Minister Omer Bar-Lev about the situation.
“I extend my deepest condolences to the families of those killed in the deadly attack in Beersheva and pray for the well-being of the injured,” Bennet wrote in a tweet.
“I have now conducted a situational assessment and consultation with the Minister of Homeland Security and the Commissioner of Police after the attack.”
Israeli politicians from across the spectrum have condemned the attack.
In a tweet, President Isaac Herzog wrote: “The heart is torn … together with the people of Israel I send condolences to the families of the bereaved. I am confident that the security forces will act decisively and that those responsible will ‘Judgments are given.
And the Muslim party Ra’am issued a statement condemning the “aggravated attack in Beersheba” and sent condolences to the families of those killed.
“Ra’am urges all citizens to uphold the common, fragile social fabric, to be responsible and to promote a discourse of tolerance in this difficult hour,” the party said.
The Hura local council has issued a statement saying it “in every possible way condemned the deadly attack.”
“Attacking innocent civilians is a criminal and deceptive act of terrorism. The Council calls on both the Arabs and the Jews of the Negev to maintain the neighborly relations between the two sides that have existed so far.
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