The U.S. State Department has confirmed that an American student was among five people killed Thursday in separate Palestinian attacks against Israelis.
Spokesman John Kirby identified him Friday as Ezra Schwartz, 18, of Boston, Massachusetts. He was killed when a Palestinian sprayed a car in which he was riding with bullets near a Jewish settlement.
Five other Americans were hurt.
"The secretary ... wishes each of them a full and complete recovery," Kirby said of Secretary of State John Kerry.
"We condemn in the strongest possible terms these outrageous terrorist attacks," Kirby added. "These tragic incidents underscore the importance of taking affirmative steps to restore calm."
In one of the single deadliest days in the two-month surge of Palestinian violence, a Palestinian gunman in a car shot at other cars outside the settlement near Jerusalem and deliberately rammed into other vehicles. Three people, including Schwartz and another Palestinian, were killed.
In Tel Aviv on Thursday, a Palestinian armed with a knife rushed into an office building and stabbed two Israelis to death before bystanders stopped him.
The wave of violence that has left 15 Israelis and at least 86 Palestinians dead began in September when rumors swept Palestinian neighborhoods that Israel was planning to take over an East Jerusalem holy site revered by Muslims and Jews.
Israel has consistently denied the rumors and accuses Palestinian leaders of inciting the violence.
