American tourist killed, up to 10 people injured in Jaffa attack

An American tourist was killed and as many as 10 people were wounded in a stabbing attack at and near the Jaffa port in the Tel Aviv area.

The Tuesday evening attack came less than two hours after terror attacks in Jerusalem and central Israel left a haredi Orthodox man and two Israeli Border Police officers seriously injured.

In the Jaffa attack, four of the injured are reported to be in serious condition and four others in moderate condition, according to Israel’s Channel 2. The attack lasted about 20 minutes in three locations.

The man killed was later identified by police as a U.S. tourist, 29, though no other details were immediately released. The tourist’s wife was among those seriously injured, Ynet reported.  A pregnant woman, an Israeli-Arab and a Palestinian in Israel illegally were among the injured, Channel 2 reported.

Police said the assailant was “neutralized.” He was later identified by the Palestinian Maan news agency and then by police as a 22-year-old man from the Palestinian city of Qalqilya in the northern West Bank.

At the time of the attack, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden was located less than two miles away at the Peres Center for Peace. He is in Israel on a two-day trip.

At the entrance to the Jaffa port, on its heavily trafficked promenade, the assailant stabbed two people before attacking others as he moved southward, including near the Dolphinarium Club on the border with Tel Aviv, according to reports.

The Tel Aviv-Jaffa municipality vowed to step up security in the wake of the attack.