Shafaq News/ Four people were killed on Tuesday in a suspected stabbing and car ramming attack near Bir Sabeh mall, Israeli police and emergency services said.

The Jeruslaem Post reported that the attacker first rammed his vehicle into the victims and then went on the stabbing spree.

According to videos circulating on social media, the suspected attacker, who is reportedly from the area, could be seen lying on the ground after apparently being fatally shot by a passerby.

The Magen David Adom ambulance service said three women and a man were killed by the assailant, who carried out the attack at a petrol station and at an outdoor shopping centre, and that at least two other people were wounded, one critically.

Tensions have been on the rise in Israel and the Palestinian territories as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, in April this year, approaches - a period when violence has erupted in the past.

Several Palestinian stabbing attacks have occurred in East Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank in recent weeks, with some of the suspected assailants shot dead by Israeli forces.