A staff member of the Israeli embassy in China’s capital was stabbed by another foreigner and taken to the hospital. The suspect was eventually apprehended, according to officials.
Israeli embassy attacked in Beijing: The man was wounded with a knife on a street in the Chinese capital, according to video geolocated by AFP.
Israel’s foreign ministry issued a statement saying that “an Israeli employee of the Israeli embassy in Beijing was attacked today,” noting that the incident did not occur on the embassy grounds.
According to the statement, “The employee is receiving treatment at a hospital and is in stable condition.”
“The attack’s motivation is being investigated,”
According to a statement from the police in Beijing’s Chaoyang District, “another foreign national stabbed a 50-year-old male relative of an Israeli diplomat outside the entrance to a supermarket… at around 2 pm.”
The foreign national was identified in the statement as “a 53-year-old male involved in small goods trading in Beijing” based on early inquiry results.
The statement continued, “The criminal suspect has been arrested,” and stated that “further investigation is ongoing in this case.”
Nicholas Burns, the US ambassador to China, expressed his “shock” at the incident and pledged his “full support” to the Israeli embassy and community in China.
Burns wrote on the social networking website X, formerly known as Twitter, “We are shocked by today’s attack on an Israeli diplomat in Beijing,” adding that he had spoken with Irit Ben-Abba, Israel’s ambassador to China.
Protests “are likely to become violent”
A video released on social media shows a man repeatedly stabbing another man, and AFP geolocated the video to a location approximately a mile (a kilometer and a half) from the embassy. Blood is visible on the pavement.
Later, the man wielding the blade is seen walking away from the scene.
“In another video taken at the same area, people can be seen calling and questioning security personnel.”
The victim is still awake and covered in blood when a man rides up on a bike and yells “ambulance!” to witnesses.
The person is seen being transported to a vehicle out of frame by numerous people, probably for medical attention.
Eight plainclothes police officers were there, according to an AFP reporter who was on the scene of the attack.
Following an unexpected attack on Israel on Saturday that left more than 1,300 people dead, largely civilians, and 150 hostages, there was a stabbing.
Over 1,530 individuals have died as a result of Israel’s retaliatory six-day barrage of air and artillery strikes on Hamas objectives in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas has urged “all of its supporters around the world to hold a ‘Day of Rage'” on Friday to “attack Israelis and Jews,” according to a statement on the website of the Israeli foreign ministry.
The message stated that “it is reasonable to assume that there will be protest events in various countries that are likely to turn violent.”
An AFP journalist observed that the Israeli embassy, located in a diplomatic area of northeast Beijing, appeared to be open and functioning regularly on Friday.
There was no increased policing visible from the outside, so security staff urged AFP not to video the location.
The Chinese foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment right away.