Jerusalem Gay Pride: Six Marchers Stabbed

Six people taking part in an annual Gay Pride march in Jerusalem have been stabbed by an ultra-Orthodox Jewish man, police said.

Around 5,000 marchers waving banners were heading down an avenue when the attack happened.

Witness Shai Aviyor told Channel 2 television: "I saw an ultra-Orthodox youth stabbing everyone in his way.

"We heard people screaming, everyone ran for cover, and there were bloodied people on the ground."

Other witnesses told Channel 2 a man rushed the marchers and stabbed multiple people before police jumped on him and arrested him.

Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said the alleged attacker, Yishai Schlissel, had recently been released from prison after serving a sentence for a similar attack at the 2005 event.

Media reports said the attacker hid in a nearby supermarket and jumped out to attack the march when it passed.

Eli Bin of Israel's emergency service said six young people were wounded, two of them seriously.

The parade was proceeding as planned when the crowd's chants gave way to screams.

Panic broke out, and a bloodied woman fell to the ground, according to an Associated Press photographer.

A man with blood seeping from his back walked around with a dazed look before collapsing.

A shirtless man also had blood dripping down his back.

Medics were quickly on the scene, and applied pressure to the men's wounds to stop the bleeding.

Shocked participants, some of them in tears, gathered on the pavement as ambulances and police on horses quickly arrived.

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

Medic Hanoch Zelinger, who treated the wounded at the scene, said one woman was stabbed in the back, chest and neck, and was unconscious on the ground.

Shaarei Tzedek hospital said it was treating a man with stab wounds who was in a serious condition, and a woman in a critical condition, both in their 20s.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the stabbings, describing them as a "most serious incident".

"We will prosecute those responsible to the full extent of the law. Freedom of individual choice is a basic value in Israel," he said.

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

The parade continue after the wounded were taken to hospital, with people chanting "end the violence".

Media reports said thousands of residents who had not taken part in the parade joined in after the attack in solidarity.

The march has been a cause of tension between Israel's predominantly secular majority and the ultra-Orthodox Jewish minority, who object to public displays of homosexuality.

The event takes place annually in the more gay friendly city of Tel Aviv without incident, but in Jerusalem violence has erupted in the past.