An employee of the Israeli embassy in China was attacked in Beijing on Friday and taken to hospital where he is in “stable” condition, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said.
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“An Israeli employee at the Israeli Embassy in Beijing was attacked today,” an Israeli diplomatic statement said.
“The employee is being treated in hospital and is in a stable condition,” the same source added.
According to the AP, the suspect, a 53-year-old foreign national, was arrested. However, according to the Associated Press, the victim is believed to be a relative of the Israeli diplomat in China.
The ministry clarified that the attack did not take place on the embassy premises and that “the motive for the attack is under investigation.”
US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns said he was “shocked” by the attack and expressed his “full support” to the Israeli community in the country.
We are shocked by today’s attack on an Israeli diplomat in Beijing. I spoke with Israeli Ambassador to China Irit Ben-Abba and offered our full support to the Israeli Embassy and the Israeli community in China.
— Ambassador Nicholas Burns (@USAmbChina) October 13, 2023
“We are shocked by today’s attack on an Israeli diplomat in Beijing,” he said on the X network, adding that he had spoken to Israel’s ambassador to China, Irit Ben-Abba.
A video posted on social networks and geolocated by AFP in an area one and a half kilometers from the Israeli embassy shows a man brandishing a knife and stabbing a second man multiple times. Blood can be seen on the street.
The attacker is then seen leaving the crime scene with the knife in his hand.
In another geotagged video from the same location, security officers question passers-by and make calls.
Then a man arrives on a scooter and makes his way to the victim, covered in blood but conscious and sitting. “An ambulance!” he shouts to passers-by.
The victim is then transported by several people.
At the scene, a police officer was heard saying he was from the local Xinyuanli Police Station.
When contacted, an officer at this police station said he did not have any details about the case and referred the matter to higher authorities.
An AFP journalist counted eight uniformed police officers at the scene, but the place was not cordoned off and, contrary to the videos, no bloodstains could be seen on the ground.
Three traders who were across the street from the alleged crime scene said they saw nothing.
The embassy, located in a district of northeast Beijing that is home to many diplomatic missions, appeared to be functioning normally on Friday afternoon, an AFP journalist noted.
Security personnel asked AFP not to film the scene and there was no additional police presence at the scene.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond when contacted.
Israeli offensive against Gaza possible
The attack comes as Israel prepares a likely new offensive in the Gaza Strip in response to the deadly Hamas attack on October 7.
The war between Israel and Hamas has already left thousands dead and hundreds of thousands displaced in less than a week.
At least 1,300 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Israel since hostilities began. According to local authorities, more than 1,500 people were killed on the Palestinian side, including many civilians.
A statement on the Israeli Foreign Ministry website warned that Hamas had called on “all its supporters around the world” to organize a day of rage on Friday to “attack Israelis and Jews.”
“It is reasonable to assume that there will be protest demonstrations in several countries that risk turning violent,” the statement said.