Palestinian attacker stabs five with screwdriver in Tel Aviv

Azrieli bridge, Tel Aviv. WIKI COMMONS PHOTO

TEL AVIV — A Palestinian attacker was shot dead after stabbing five people with a screwdriver in Tel Aviv.

The Wednesday afternoon attack across the street from the Kirya, the headquarters of Israel’s military, was the second stabbing attack of the day, and the fifth in the last two days.

One of the victims was a female soldier.

The assailant reportedly attempted to grab the soldier’s weapon before he began stabbing her. He stabbed four other bystanders as he ran away, toward the Azrieli Mall on a very busy thoroughfare, before being shot by a soldier on the street.

Police have increased security in Tel Aviv in the wake of the attack.

The attack came about two hours after a yeshiva student, 25, was seriously injured after being stabbed in the neck by a Palestinian assailant near a Jerusalem light rail station.