Two British-Israeli sisters were killed on Friday in a shooting attack on their car in the occupied West Bank, Israeli authorities said.
The attack took place with Israel on high alert in Jerusalem after a day of violence along the Lebanese and Gaza borders.
Israel’s military said soldiers had arrived at the scene of a reported collision between Israeli and Palestinian vehicles near the Jewish settlement of Hamra and saw the Israeli car, with three people in it, had been shot up.
Two sisters, aged 16 and 20, died and their mother sustained serious wounds, officials said.
The sisters were also British citizens, according to Britain’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. It called for all parties to de-escalate tensions.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, visiting the scene, said: “Vile and heartless terrorists murdered two young sisters.”
“Our forces are operating in the field in hot pursuit of the terrorists. It is only a matter of time, and not much time, that we will hold them accountable,” he said.
Palestinian Islamist group Hamas praised the attack, but stopped short of claiming responsibility.
Moreover, an Italian tourist was killed and five other tourists were wounded in a Tel Aviv car-ramming attack, Israeli and Italian officials said on Friday.
An Israeli security source identified the assailant as an Israeli Arab from the town of Kafr Qassem.
A police officer who was nearby arrived at the scene to find several people wounded and an overturned car near a popular Tel Aviv promenade. The officer “neutralized” the driver when he tried to pull a gun, police said.
The car had veered off the street near a popular bike and walking path along the beach. Reuters video from shortly after the incident showed a white car upside down on the grass of a park. Police cordoned off the area that was brimming with emergency responders.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani confirmed on Twitter that the man killed was Italian.
It was the second deadly attack on Friday, after two Israeli sisters were killed when their car was shot up in the occupied West Bank.
A US State Department spokesperson said on Friday that the US “strongly condemns today’s terrorist attacks…The three horrific attacks today, in which three were killed and at least eight others wounded, affected citizens of Israel, Italy, and the United Kingdom. The targeting of innocent civilians of any nationality is unconscionable.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed police “to mobilize all reserve border police units and has directed the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) to mobilize additional forces to confront the terror attacks,” his office said.
Israel’s Magen David Adom ambulance service said all the victims in the Tel Aviv attack were tourists.
The police said four reserve companies of border police would be called up in the coming days.
