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   A gunman kills 5 in Israel before being killed by police A Palestinian
   gunman has killed five people in a suburb of Tel Aviv. It's the latest
   in a series of attacks that left 11 people dead in just over a week.

Middle East

A gunman kills 5 in Israel before being killed by police

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   March 30, 20225:10 AM ET
   Heard on Morning Edition
   A Martínez headshot

   A Martínez
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   Daniel Estrin

   Daniel Estrin
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A gunman kills 5 in Israel before being killed by police

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   A Palestinian gunman has killed five people in a suburb of Tel Aviv.
   It's the latest in a series of attacks that left 11 people dead in just
   over a week.

   A MARTINEZ, HOST:

   In Israel, a gunman has killed five people in a suburb of Tel Aviv.
   It's the latest in a series of attacks that have left 11 dead in just
   over a week. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is calling it a new wave of
   terror. And officials say some of the attackers support the Islamic
   State group, a rare phenomenon in Israel. NPR's Daniel Estrin is in Tel
   Aviv. Daniel, what more can you tell us about these attacks?

   DANIEL ESTRIN, BYLINE: Well, they've all happened in Israeli cities.
   Last week in Beersheba in the south, there was a rampage. An attacker
   used his car and then stabbed and killed four Israelis. Then this
   weekend in another city, Hadera, there was a pair of gunmen that killed
   two Israeli policemen. And then last night in Bnei Brak, right outside
   of Tel Aviv, a Palestinian gunmen from the West Bank - Israeli media
   report he was previously imprisoned in Israel. He opened fire, killed
   five people, including what we hear are two Ukrainians working here for
   several years and a policeman.

   MARTINEZ: And is the motivation for this known yet?

   ESTRIN: Well, officials said in the first two attacks the attackers
   were ISIS supporters. And we've been seeing in the last few days
   arrests of ISIS supporters. And ISIS supporters is highly rare in
   Israel. But on top of that, there is a different feeling that this may
   be a general wave of Palestinian attacks kind of like what we have seen
   in recent years - attacks that are not necessarily directed from from
   the top, but some kind of momentum that gathers and inspires copycat
   attacks. In the Palestinian territories, this is being described as
   resistance against Israeli occupation. We've seen gatherings, for
   instance, outside the attacker's house from last night.

   MARTINEZ: And what's been the response politically?

   ESTRIN: Well, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett called it
   murderous Arab terror. He's describing it as a new phenomenon.
   Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas issued a rare
   condemnation of last night's attack. And then on the streets, we've
   been seeing Israeli far-right protests at sites of - some of the sites
   of these attacks. We've heard chants like death to Arabs. Israelis
   torched Palestinians' cars and vowed revenge in one village. And we're
   seeing thousands of police today dispatched across the country. And
   people are jittery. I've heard from Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel
   who are afraid to go out on the streets to Jewish areas. We saw this
   morning police shoot at the legs of some Palestinians in a busy
   Jerusalem market - perhaps a case of mistaken identity. And some
   Israeli cities and even in West Bank settlements are limiting
   construction sites now because a lot of Palestinian workers come in for
   construction. And these cities don't want Palestinians coming in today.

   MARTINEZ: So you said people are jittery. So there must be fears that
   things could get worse or maybe grow into a larger wave of violence.

   ESTRIN: That's right. And the U.S. has actually been fearing this for
   many weeks now. They have been warning that violence ahead of next
   month's Muslim holy month of Ramadan. They're worried of what happened
   last year, when there was violence leading to the Gaza conflict around
   this time of year. So they have been urging officials to meet to try to
   take steps to prevent violence. We've seen Israeli and Palestinian
   leaders meeting. We've seen Israeli and Jordanian officials meeting.
   Jordan plays a role here as the custodian of the Al-Aqsa mosque in
   Jerusalem. So Israel's president is meeting the king of Jordan today.
   It is unclear, though, if this really can be stopped, if this is a wave
   of lone wolf attackers not directed. And especially with Jewish,
   Christian, Muslim holidays coming up next month, this is a recipe for
   more tension.

   MARTINEZ: NPR's Daniel Estrin in Tel Aviv. Daniel, thanks.

   ESTRIN: You're welcome.

   (SOUNDBITE OF SLOW DANCING SOCIETY'S "THE WARM FAMILIAR SMELL OF
   SEPTEMBER")

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