Tourist killed and six Brits hurt after car rams crowd and flips over

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Israeli police and emergency service stand around a car involved in an attack in Tel Aviv (Image: AP)
Israeli police and emergency service stand around a car involved in an attack in Tel Aviv (Image: AP)

Six British and Italian tourists were injured and one was killed in a suspected attack in Tel Aviv tonight.

Police said a car rammed into a group of people near a popular seaside park before flipping over.

A 30-year-old man from Italy was killed and four other people, including a 17-year-old, are receiving medical treatment for mild to moderate injuries, the rescue service said.

Police said they shot the driver of the car. The driver's condition is unknown at the moment.

Israel's Foreign Ministry referred to the incident as a "terror attack", a term Israeli officials use for assaults by Palestinians.

Six-year-old dies after driver ploughs into people waiting at bus stop eiqetiqhriqexinvSix-year-old dies after driver ploughs into people waiting at bus stop
Tourist killed and six Brits hurt after car rams crowd and flips overA wounded person is brought to a hospital in Tel Aviv, Israel (AP)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Israel mobilised police and army reserves after the incident in Tel Aviv.

The attack came against the backdrop of heightened tensions after Israeli airstrikes on Palestinian militant targets in both Lebanon and Gaza, as well as a shooting attack in the occupied West Bank that killed two Israelis.

It followed days of violence and unrest in Jerusalem's most sensitive holy site, the compound of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Old City, with tensions running high in the Gaza Strip after the use of force by Israeli police.

Over the past few years during Ramadan, worshippers at Islam's third holiest site have been attacked by Israeli forces, preventing them from spending the night inside the mosque for Itikaf - the practice of spending a few days inside a mosque during Islam's holy month.

Earlier today, two British sisters were shot dead and their mother was injured after their car was hit in the Israeli settlement of Hamra, 30 miles north of Jerusalem.

Tourist killed and six Brits hurt after car rams crowd and flips overSeveral people were injured in Tel Aviv on Friday night (AFP via Getty Images)

Israel's military said: "A shooting attack was carried out on a vehicle at the Hamra Junction. IDF [Israeli army] soldiers are searching the area."

Nobody claimed responsibility for either attack as of tonight.

Violence has surged to new heights along the occupied West Bank in recent months, with health officials reporting the start of 2023 to be the most deadly for Palestinians in two decades.

Nearly 90 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank since the start of the year.

During that time, 16 people have been killed in Palestinian attacks on Israelis - all but one of them civilians.

Woman falls to death from 60ft-high flat window putting up Christmas decorationsWoman falls to death from 60ft-high flat window putting up Christmas decorations
Tourist killed and six Brits hurt after car rams crowd and flips overTwo sisters were killed and their mother was injured near the Israeli settlement of Hamra in West Bank (AP)

Israel said most of the Palestinian victims have been militants, but stone-throwing youths protesting police incursions and people not involved in the confrontations have also been killed.

In January, 14-year-old Omar Khmour was shot in the head by the Israeli army during a raid on Bethlehem.

The boy suffered a serious injury during the raid on the Dheisheh refugee camp, the Palestinian Ministry of Health announced.

The Palestinian Ministry of Education condemned the killing and said Khmour was a student in the ninth grade at a United Nations refugee agency school.

Chiara Fiorillo

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