BEIJING: A staffer at the Israeli embassy in Beijing was assaulted on Friday and was hospitalised in stable condition, Israel’s foreign ministry said, and Chinese police said a suspect had been arrested.

The attack did not occur within the embassy compound itself, the Israeli foreign ministry said, which is just one embassy over from that of the United States and in an area with a number of other embassies and a heavy police presence.

The suspect was a foreign worker, aged 53, who was engaged in a small commodities business in Beijing, local police said in a statement, and an investigation was underway. Unverified videos on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, showed a blood-stained man lying on the pavement by a car, telling bystanders he was from the Israeli embassy.

In the video, a police officer can be heard identifying himself as a member of the Xinyuanli police station, located in northeastern Beijing, near the embassy district and a popular market frequented by foreigners for fresh produce.