Masked Palestinian girl, draped in a Palestinian flag, walks during clashes with Israeli troops near the Jewish settlement of Bet El.

Four Arabs were stabbed in a town in southern Israel on Friday and a Jewish suspect was arrested, police said. The attacks follow a surge in knife violence by Palestinians against Israelis.

The stabbings took place in the town of Dimona and were all were believed to have been carried out by the same suspect, police said.

“As of now there are four stabbings,” spokeswoman Luba Samri said, adding that the motive appeared to be “nationalistic.”

The first man stabbed was a municipal worker who was moderately wounded by the assailant. Another Arab was stabbed near a school, she said.

Details of the other two stabbings and the condition of the victims were not immediately clear.

The mayor of Dimona, Benny Biton, told Israel Radio the suspect was a resident of the town who was “known to police.”

Four Israelis have been killed in stabbings in Occupied Jerusalem and a drive-by shooting in the occupied West Bank since last week, and there have been several such attacks by Palestinians within Israel that caused injuries but no fatalities.

Three Palestinians have been shot dead and scores injured in clashes with Israeli security services, triggering fears of a new Palestinian uprising or intifada.

The unrest is largely linked to Muslim agitation over Jewish access to al-Aqsa Mosque. The internationally recognized status-quo dictates Jews are allowed visits to the site, but not prayer.