An Israeli embassy worker in Beijing was attacked with a knife by another foreign national and hospitalized on Friday. The Israeli foreign ministry confirmed the attack, which did not occur at the embassy compound.
The employee is currently in stable condition and the motive for the assault is being investigated. The incident occurred outside the entrance to a supermarket in Beijing’s Chaoyang District. A preliminary investigation revealed the foreign national to be a 53-year-old male involved in small goods trading. The criminal suspect has been arrested, and the case is currently under further investigation.
US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns expressed shock and support for the Israeli embassy and community in China. A video posted on social media showed a man brandishing a knife repeatedly stabbing another man, with blood visible on the pavement. The man with the blade can later be seen leaving the site with the weapon in hand.
A video shows security staff questioning people and making phone calls at a location where a blood-soaked and conscious victim is stabbed. The victim is then carried away by several others, likely for medical treatment, to a vehicle out of frame.
The stabbing comes after Hamas gunmen killed over 1,300 people in Israel, mostly civilians, and took about 150 hostages in their surprise attack on Saturday. Israel has retaliated by raining air and artillery strikes on Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip for six days, killing over 1,530 people.
Hamas has called on all its supporters around the world to hold a ‘Day of Rage’ on Friday to “attack Israelis and Jews”. The Israeli embassy in Beijing appears to be operating normally, but security personnel asked not to film the site, where no additional policing was visible from the outside.
