At least one attacker opened fire from a vehicle then crashed into a group of pedestrians near a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, leaving nine people wounded, police and the army said.
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According to the Israeli newspaper HaAretz, Schwartz had been studying at a yeshiva, or a Jewish religious academy, outside of Jerusalem during a post-high school gap year.
The second attack, which killed Schwartz, was a shooting in the West Bank in Gush Etzion, an area south of Jerusalem.
The first of Thursday’s attacks was in Tel Aviv, where a Palestinian man stabbed and killed two men in an office building before police apprehended him.
Also killed in the attack was an unidentified Palestinian man and Yaakov Don, 51, of Alon Shvut.
The army said an assailant was shot, but the condition of the attacker was unclear.
Ezra Schwartz was an 18-year-old who was spending his gap year in Israel when he was killed.
The U.S. Department of State said it extended its condolences to his family and friends.
“Our community lost a family member and we collectively mourn this senseless loss of life”, said Robert Trestan, ADL New England Regional Director.
Thursday’s Tel Aviv attack, inside an expansive office building in the middle of the day, in particular stoked Israeli fears that a full-fledged Palestinian uprising could erupt.
Israel has beefed up security across the country in recent weeks in light of the attacks, sending soldiers to patrol cities alongside thousands of police.
Israeli borderguards stand guard at the site of the attack.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he and security officials discussed ways to contain attackers emanating from Hebron and take steps against Israelis who hire Palestinians illegally. Both jihadi suspects have been arrested and placed in police custody.
The incident appeared to be the latest in a recent string of attacks by Palestinians protesting the Israeli occupation and settlement of West Bank land.
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The attack killed one American and two others.
