One tourist killed and five hurt after car ploughs into crowd of pedestrians in ‘terror attack’ in Tel Aviv
ONE tourist has been killed and another five hurt after a car ploughed into a crowd of pedestrians in Tel Aviv.
It comes just hours after two sisters from the UK were killed when their car was ambushed by gunmen in the West Bank.
Police found several people injured and an overturned car near a Tel Aviv promenade following the second attack.
It is understood the tourists hurt were from the UK and Italy, according to local media.
A man aged around 30 – thought to be from Italy – died at the scene.
Three of those hurt, including a 17-year-old, were moderately injured, while two had light injuries, the Magen David Adom emergency service said.
A police spokesman meanwhile said “the terrorist was neutralised, it was a terror attack against civilians, a car ramming attack”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mobilised police and army reserves following the suspected terror attack.
It comes after two sisters from the UK were shot dead in the West Bank.
The victims, aged 15 and 21, died at the scene after their car was attacked by gunmen then rammed by another vehicle.
Their mother, 48, was also seriously injured when their car was attacked near the Hamra settlement, about 30 miles north of Jerusalem.
The family is understood to have moved from the UK to Israel in 2005 and settled in Efrat, near the Palestinian city of Bethlehem.
It was believed to be a cowardly and indiscriminate revenge strike launched as tensions spiralled following police raids on the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
Gunmen are believed to have targeted the car simply because it bore Israeli registration plates.
A US national was also recently shot dead in similar circumstances.
The sisters were in a car that came under fire and was then rammed.
Pictures showed white and red cars with serious front end damage following what appeared to be a high speed collision.
The sisters died at the scene and their mother was airlifted to hospital in a “very critical condition”.
Sources in Israel confirmed that the sisters were both originally from London and were aged 15 and 21.
Their father – who attended university in the UK – had been in a separate car travelling ahead of the women but realised there had been an altercation behind him.
He drove back to the scene fearing his family had been involved in a traffic accident then realised the car had come under fire.
Police later reported the vehicle in which the British family was travelling had been riddled with a volley of 22 Kalashnikov assault rifle bullets, leaving blood spattered on the windscreen.
The distraught dad – who has not been identified – was being comforted by family members and friends.
The Magen David Adom (MDA) ambulance service said its medics initially responded to a vehicle collision on the Route 57 highway in the northern Jordan Valley, near the Hamra Junction, close to the settlement of the same name.
When medics and troops reached the scene, the car was found to be riddled with bullet holes.
Ambulencemen said two women were declared dead at the scene, and a woman who was critically hurt in the attack was taken to Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital in Jerusalem by helicopter.
Doctors said she had suffered bullet wounds to her upper body and confirmed she remained “critical”.
The Israel Defense Force said the shooting was a terror attack and had launched a manhunt for the gunmen and other suspects who fled the scene.
A military spokesman said: “IDF forces are blocking roads in the area and have begun a pursuit of the terrorists.”.