Six stabbed at Gay Pride march in Jerusalem

An Orthodox Jewish man stabbed and injured six participants of an annual Gay Pride march in Jerusalem on Thursday, police and witnesses said.

It was the worst attack in years on the event in Jerusalem, a city where the religious population is more prominent than in other parts of Israel.

The man had recently been released from prison after serving a sentence for stabbing several people at a Gay Pride parade in 2005, police spokeswoman Luba Samri said.

Ms Samri said the attacker, Yishai Schlissel, was arrested.

A paramedic with the Magen David Adom rescue service said at least six people had been injured, and at least two appeared to be in serious condition.

The attacker carried out a similar attack that wounded several people at a gay pride parade in Jerusalem a decade ago. Media reported he hid in a nearby supermarket and jumped out to attack the march when it passed.

Jerusalem police spokesman Asi Ahroni said there was a “massive presence” of police securing the parade but “unfortunately the man managed to pull out a knife and attack”.

"I saw an ultra-Orthodox youth stabbing everyone in his way," said Shai Aviyor, a witness interviewed on Israeli television.

“We heard people screaming, everyone ran for cover, and there were bloodied people on the ground,” Mr Aviyor said.

The parade continued after the wounded were taken to a hospital, with protesters chanting “end the violence”.

The march, which attracts thousands of participants, has long been a focus of tension between Israel’s predominantly secular majority and the ultra-Orthodox Jewish minority, who object to public displays of homosexuality.

Agencies