Israel launched a large-scale manhunt on Friday for two Palestinians suspected of killing three Israelis in an axe assault that occurred on the anniversary of the Jewish state’s birth.

The attack on Thursday night in Elad, a central city mostly populated by ultra-Orthodox Jews, was the sixth such incident since March 22.

Witnesses claimed two assailants jumped out of a car and swung axes at passers-by, killing three people and wounding four others before fleeing in the same car.

The incident occurred during a difficult time when the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, the Jewish festival of Passover, and the Christian holiday of Easter all fell on the same day.

Tensions have erupted into deadly fights between Israelis and Palestinians at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Israeli-annexed Old City.

Palestinians have been outraged by an increase in Jewish trips to the Al-Aqsa compound, where Jews may visit but are not permitted to worship.

Israel has stated that the status quo at the Temple Mount, known to Jews as the Western Wall, will remain undisturbed.

The Elad incident was denounced by the US and Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas, who warned that it might spark a chain reaction of violence.

However, the Gaza Strip’s Islamist rulers, Hamas, and another Palestinian armed organisation, Islamic Jihad, hailed the attack, claiming it was a result of unrest at Al-Aqsa. Neither of them claimed responsibility.

“This operation demonstrates our people’s anger at the occupation’s attacks on holy sites,” Hazem Qassem, a Hamas spokesperson, said of the Elad attack.

“The storming of Al-Aqsa mosque cannot go unpunished.”

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