Despite all having occurred in remarkably quick succession, Israel Police Chief Roni Alsheikh assured Israelis that the string of terror attacks in Petah Tikva, Jerusalem and Jaffa Tuesday evening were not connected.

“We are talking about a wave of three (separate) attacks. It is our understanding that there is no connection between them; there are no additional terrorists out there,” Alsheikh said Tuesday evening, seeking to calm fears of an coordinated terrorist assault.

However, he acknowledged the timing was difficult to ignore – the attacks having been carried out within roughly two hours – and said police would be examining to see if lessons could be learned.

“From here we are going to assess the situation, to understand if there is something new here that we need to take into account,” he added, pledging to inform the public of whatever conclusions were reached.

Though the attacks are not thought to be linked organizationally-speaking, police will likely be examining evidence as to whether successive “lone wolves” drew inspiration from one another, or if the timing was merely a coincidence.

The string of attacks began late Tuesday afternoon, when an Arab terrorist attacked a haredi Jewish man who was handing out religious leaflets in Petah Tikva.

Despite being stabbed several times, however, the terrorist’s victim fought back, seized his attacker’s weapon and stabbed him to death with it – saving his own life, and likely those of many people standing nearby.

Less than an hour later, a terrorist on a motorbike opened fire on police in Jerusalem, wounding two, before being shot dead by officers.

That attack was followed soon after by a deadly stabbing spree in Jaffa, next to Tel Aviv. An American tourist was murdered and 10 other people injured – among them a Russian tourist in very serious condition – by a terrorist from the PA town of Qalqilya. 

The 22-year-old attacker, who was in Israeli territory illegally, was eliminated by police after having stabbed 11 people at three separate locations.