Gunman kills one, wounds eight in Israeli city of Beersheba

An injured man is evacuated at the main bus station in the southern Israeli city of Beersheva after the attack.

A gunman went on a stabbing and shooting rampage at the central bus station in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba on Sunday, killing one person and wounding eight, police said, in one of the most serious recent events of Palestinian-Israeli violence.
Initial reports said two attackers were involved but the regional police commander said investigators later believed there was only one.
Police commander Yoram Halevy said the attacker, whose identity was being checked, had entered the secured bus station and used a handgun to attack and kill a soldier and grab his assault rifle, which he later used to shoot at others.
"We are checking all options, these are very tense days and the people are very suspicious," Halevy told reporters at the scene.
Forty-two Palestinians and eight Israelis have died in recent violence, which was in part triggered by Palestinians' anger over what they see as increased Jewish encroachment on Jerusalem's Al Aqsa mosque compound.
In public remarks on Sunday to his cabinet, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: "We are preserving the status quo, we will continue to do so," referring to the Jerusalem holy site.
ISRAEL ERECTS WALL
Earlier on Sunday, Israel erected a short concrete barrier along a street that borders the Palestinian neighbourhood of Jabel Mukabar and a Jewish neighbourhood that Israel has built in annexed East Jerusalem.
Police said the wall, about 10 metres in length, was placed temporarily at a flashpoint of the recent flare-up of violence in the city and was intended to stop petrol bombs and other missiles being thrown at the Jewish apartments.
Israel, which has poured hundreds of troops into its cities and set up roadblocks in Palestinian neighbourhoods of East Jerusalem, said that on Saturday four Palestinians were shot dead and a fifth seriously injured in thwarted knife attacks.
The Hamas group which controls the Gaza Strip said the Beersheba attack was a "natural response to Israel field executions of Palestinians."
And as they struggle to calm public fears, at least four Israeli cities, including the commercial capital Tel Aviv, have temporarily banned Arab workers from their schools.
Israel's cabinet also imposed more security measures on Sunday after further Palestinian stabbings this weekend, widening police stop-and-frisk powers that will effectively allow them to search anyone on the street.
The Interior Ministry, which oversees the municipalities, said it had appealed to "all mayors to continue to act with respect and equality towards all their workers, irrespective of religion, ethnicity or gender". It did not ask them to repeal the restrictions.
Netanyahu is expected to meet US Secretary of State John Kerry in Germany in the coming week as part of an effort by Washington to restore calm. Kerry also plans to hold talks in the Middle East with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, but no precise location has been announced.

• MENA