An Israeli soldier has been killed in a shooting spree at a bus station in Beersheba, southern Israel, according to police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld.
The attacker — identified by police as a Bedouin man — was killed in the shootout on Sunday, but so was an Eritrean migrant who was apparently misidentified by a security guard as a second attacker, police said.
Security camera footage authenticated by police showed a chaotic scene of people rushing for cover during which the Eritrean man runs around a kiosk and is shot by the guard.
Another video from the scene, shot on a cell phone and aired by Israeli media, appears to show people angrily kicking the wounded Eritrean in the head and body, and even hitting him with a bench.
Israeli police condemned the attacks on the wounded man, which it said rendered him unrecognizable. Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said there would be an investigation to determine those involved in the beating.
“It should be noted that that the police see this in a very severe light and will not allow people to take the law into their hands and everyone should act with restraint and carefulness and allow the police to do their job,” Samri said.
10 wounded
At least 10 people were wounded in the shooting. Four of them were police officers, according to the Jerusalem Post. The dead soldier was identified as 19-year-old Sgt. Omri Levi.
Police identified the attacker as Mohannad Al-Oqbi, a 21-year-old Bedouin from the town of Hura, near Beersheba. Authorities have also arrested a member of his family on suspicion of helping him, Samri said.
Bedouins are traditionally nomadic Arabic-speaking peoples in the Middle East. In Israel, they hold citizenship, but some have clashed with authorities over policies to settle them in cities.
Some Bedouin villages have gained recognitions as towns, but some settlements have not been recognized and have been condemned to demolition, according to Israel’s parliamentary website.
This has led to long-standing tensions between some groups and Bedouins and the Israeli government.
Deadly clashes
The incident comes during a spate of violence has shaken Israelis and Palestinians for weeks, mostly in Palestinian territories and neighborhoods.
On Sunday, four Palestinians were injured by live fire in the West Bank, according to a spokesman for the Palestinian Health Ministry.
Seven Israelis have been killed since October 1 in attacks by Palestinians with knives, guns and cars, according to Israeli officials.
Protesters have rioted in Palestinian territories, many throwing rocks, and at times Israeli security forces have used live ammunition.
At least forty-four Palestinians have been killed this month in Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank, Palestinian Authority Health Ministry spokesman Osama al-Najjar told CNN. This figure includes those killed after carrying out attacks.
This is in addition to the more than 1,770 injured by live fire or rubber bullets in the same time period, according to Najjar.
Both sides have traded blame about who is responsible for the ongoing violence. Both sides have turned up gruesome video recordings to support their claims.