Italian tourist killed and seven injured in car ramming attack in Tel Aviv

Two British women were also killed in a separate attack in the West Bank

The car used by the suspect rolled over during the assault according to witnesses (AFP)

An Italian tourist has been killed and seven other people injured in a car-ramming attack near a beach in Tel Aviv.

Police said a 30-year-old Italian man was among a group of Italian and British citizens who were hit by a car late on Friday.

A 74-year-old man and a 17-year-old girl are among seven people who were injured in the attack. Of those wounded, three suffered moderate injuries and four sustained only light injuries, officials said.

Police said they shot and killed the driver of the car, who was identified as a 45-year-old Palestinian citizen of Israel from the Israel-Arab village of Kafr Qassem.

A video circulating on social media showed the car hurtling along a sidewalk for several hundred metres before crashing out of control.

Police secure the area of the attack (AFP)

Italian premier Giorgia Meloni’s office expressed “closeness to the family of the victim” and “solidarity with Israel for the vile attack”. She identified the man killed as Alessandro Parini from Rome. Mr Parini worked as a lawyer in Rome, Italian media reported.

In a separate incident, two British-Israeli sisters were shot to death near a settlement in the occupied West Bank.

The two women, both in their 20s, were killed while their mother, 45, was seriously wounded, Israeli and British officials said.

They lived in the Efrat settlement, near the Palestinian city of Bethlehem, said Oded Revivi, the settlement’s mayor.

Witnesses say the vehicle travelled on the pavement for several hundred metres before overturning (AFP)

Their father was driving in a car behind his daughters and witnessed the attack, the mayor added.

Medics said they dragged the unconscious women from the smashed car, which appeared to have been pushed off the road.

No groups claimed responsibility for either attack, but the Hamas militant group that rules Gaza praised both incidents as retaliation for Israeli raids earlier this week on the Al-Aqsa mosque – the third-holiest site in Islam.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the scene with defence minister Yoav Gallant late on Friday.

“It’s just a matter of time, and not much time, until we settle the score,” Mr Netanyahu said.

The attack follows days of violence and unrest in Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site, the compound of the Al-Aqsa mosque in the Old City.

Mr Netanyahu said he was calling up all reserve forces in Israel’s border police “to confront the terror attacks”.

Israel's prime minister visited the scene of the attack with defence minster Yoav Gallant (Getty)

The Hamas militant group that rules Gaza praised the attack in Tel Aviv as a response to Israel’s “crimes against Al-Aqsa Mosque and worshippers”.

A UK Foreign Office spokesperson said in a statement: “We are saddened to hear about the deaths of two British-Israeli citizens and the serious injuries sustained by a third individual. The UK calls for all parties across the region to de-escalate tensions.”

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Saturday condemned the escalating violence between Israel and the Palestinians, urging all parties to exercise restraint and promote calm for the ongoing religious holidays.