Israel: Netanyahu mobilizes reserves after deadly attacks

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mobilized police reserves and members of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Friday night after attacks in Tel Aviv and the West Bank.

"The Prime Minister has instructed the Israel Police to mobilize all reserve border police units and has directed the IDF to mobilize additional forces to confront the terror attacks," Netanyahu's office said in a statement.

Tourist killed in Tel Aviv

In the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, a 36-year-old man was killed and five others were wounded in a car ramming attack on Friday.

"All the victims were tourists," the Magen David Adom emergency service said.

Italy's government later confirmed that the victim was Italian. The Ichilov hospital in Tel Aviv said it had received three injured Britons and one wounded Italian.

An Israeli police spokesperson told the AFP news agency that "the terrorist was neutralized; it was a terror attack against civilians, a car ramming attack."

Two dead in West Bank attack

Two people were also killed in a shooting attack in the West Bank earlier on Friday.

Oded Revivi, mayor of the Efrat settlement in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, said the victims were two British-Israeli sisters aged 16 and 20. Their mother was also wounded, he said.

Restless week after Al-Aqsa clashes

The unrest comes after Israeli police clashed with Palestinians inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the early hours of Wednesday. Police reported hundreds of arrests while medics said there had been several injuries. 

Israel also struck what it said were Hezbollah targets in Lebanon on Thursday after reporting rocket fire from Lebanon into Israel, with some of the projectiles slipping through Israel's Iron Dome defensive system. 

The week has been a sensitive period in the region as Ramadan, Passover and Easter coincide.

US urges calm, stresses Israeli right to self-defense

Overnight, the US government said it stood behind its ally and condemned the attacks. 

"The targeting of innocent civilians of any nationality is unconscionable. The United States stands with the government and people of Israel," State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said in a statement.

zc/msh (AFP, Reuters)