Assailant shot dead after killing 4 in south Israeli city

JERUSALEM－Four people were killed on Tuesday by an Arab assailant who was later shot dead by a passerby in Israel's southern city of Beersheba, police said.

The assailant fatally stabbed a woman in a gas station after exiting his car near a shopping mall in Beersheba. He then went back to his car and ran over a bike rider before stepping out of the car again to fatally stab another man and woman, said the police in a statement.

The attacker stabbed five people across a swath of the city center. Amateur video footage posted online showed armed bystanders shooting and killing the attacker at the scene, reported The Associated Press.

Liraz Zrihan, a 25-year-old who was washing her car at the petrol station when the rampage began, said she saw the attacker holding a long knife, "like a sword", while spinning around and looking for people to stab, according to Agence France-Presse.

State-owned Kan TV news reported that the attacker is an Israeli Arab citizen, a Bedouin resident from the Negev Desert. He previously served prison terms for alleged ties to the terror group Islamic State.

Police spokesman Eli Levy told Channel 13 TV that the incident appeared to be "an individual terrorist who went on a stabbing spree".

Israeli police were sweeping the area in search of any possible accomplice.

PM vows strong actions

Following the tragedy, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett called a security meeting with the internal security minister and police chief, according to a statement from the prime minister's office.

Bennett vowed on Tuesday to take a tough stance against "terrorists "after the incident.

"We will take strong actions against terrorists," said Bennett in a statement following an evaluation of the attack and consultations with Public Security Minister Omer Bar-Lev and Israeli police chief Kobi Shabtai.

"We will also pursue and apprehend those who aided and abetted them," he said, adding that security forces are "on maximum alert".

Bennett also offered his condolences to the victims' families and expressed concern for those who were injured in the eight-minute attack.

Police forces were deployed throughout Israel to "avoid copycat attacks", Shabtai told reporters during a press briefing. Investigation on the attack is still underway.

The country prepared to hold funerals on Wednesday for the four people killed in the attack.

Xinhua - Agencies