Israeli Embassy Staffer Stabbed in Beijing

Facts

• A 50-year-old employee at Israel's embassy, reportedly an Israeli diplomat's kin, was stabbed several times on Friday in front of a supermarket in Beijing. The motive for the attack is being investigated.¹
• The victim has been taken to hospital and is in stable condition. Meanwhile, Beijing police have detained a foreign national running a small commodity business in the Chinese capital.²
• Video footage shared on social media shows a man stabbing another multiple times and fleeing with the knife before security staff arrived at the scene.³
• After the attack, a police car and several plainclothes officers were seen guarding the Israel and Palestinian embassies.⁴
• This comes just after Israel expressed its 'deep disappointment' over Chinese statements related to the Israel-Hamas war, claiming that Beijing refrained from asserting Israel's right to self-defense and unequivocally condemning the Hamas attack.⁵
• While the incident wasn't immediately linked to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, it occurred on a global 'day of rage' called by Hamas in response to the conflict.⁶

Sources: ¹Associated Press, ²NHK, ³France 24, ⁴South China Morning Post, ⁵New York Post and ⁶The Daily Beast.

Narratives

• Pro-Israel narrative, as provided by JNS. A motive for this stabbing may still be under investigation; however, it seems like too much of a coincidence that it occurred on the day Hamas called for a global mobilization against Israel and the Jewish people.
• Pro-Palestine narrative, as provided by The Nation. Though the attack is appalling, the Western media has already chosen a side in the conflict. While reports about anything related to Israel, even incidents taking place miles away from the Middle East, are widely covered, the woes of more than 1M Palestinians in Gaza are neglected.