(CNN) Several Jewish people have been attacked in cities across the United States this week.
Authorities are investigating assaults in New York and Los Angeles as tensions flare over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict amid days of violence between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza that have left hundreds of people dead.
A man was arrested after a 29-year-old Jewish man was punched, kicked and pepper-sprayed Thursday during an incident in New York’s Times Square, a source with the New York Police Department told CNN.
The assault involved about five to six men who allegedly yelled anti-Semitic statements, the police source told CNN.
The suspect has been identified as 23-year-old Waseem Awawdeh, the NYPD said, and investigators are recommending several charges, including one hate crime assault.
