Two sisters killed in a gun attack in the West Bank were British-Israeli citizens, the British Foreign Office has said.
The women, aged 16 and 20, died when their car crashed after it was shot at on Friday near an Israeli settlement in the Jordan Valley, Israeli authorities said. Their mother, reported locally as being in her forties, was seriously wounded.
The shooting happened as Israel’s foreign ministry confirmed that one person had been killed and several injured, believed to be tourists, in a terror attack in Tel Aviv on Friday night.
Police said a car had rammed into a group of people near a seaside park and flipped over before officers shot the driver dead. A 30-year-old Italian man was killed, but reports suggested Britons were among six people injured.
The attack came against the backdrop of heightened tensions after Israel unleashed airstrikes on Lebanon and bombarded the Gaza Strip on Friday, targeting militant group Hamas in retaliation for a barrage of cross-border rockets fired from Lebanon the previous day.
The escalation sparked fears of a broader conflict after days of violence over Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site, but later in the day there were signs that both sides were trying to keep the hostilities in check.
The mother and daughters killed in the West Bank gun attack lived in the Israeli settlement of Efrat, near the Palestinian city of Bethlehem, local mayor Oded Revivi said. He added that the girls’ father, who was driving another car behind them, had witnessed the attack.
Doctors said the smashed car appeared to have been pushed off the road.
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.”
The sisters were UK nationals whose family had moved to Israel in around 2005, Sky News reported.
A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “We are saddened to hear about the deaths of two British-Israeli citizens and the serious injuries sustained by a third individual. The UK calls for all parties across the region to de-escalate tensions.”
Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy said he was shocked by what he called an “appalling and cowardly attack”.
“My thoughts are with their family and loved ones. More civilian victims of this cycle of violence show the urgent need for diplomatic efforts to de-escalate,” he added.
The shooting comes as the region is on high alert after three days of violence.
The latest incidents began on Wednesday after Israeli police twice raided the al-Aqsa mosque, which sits on a hill in Jerusalem that is sacred to both Muslims and Jews. The raids sparked unrest in the contested capital and outrage across the Arab world.
In one incident, police fiercely beat Palestinians, who responded by hurling rocks and firecrackers.
The Israeli military said 34 rockets were fired from Lebanese territory on Thursday, in the largest escalation along the frontier in 17 years.
In retaliation, Israel stepped up its airstrikes on Gaza, with around 20 missiles striking four new sites in 10 minutes. That led to rocket fire from Gaza and the barrage from southern Lebanon, and the Israeli retaliation.
Loud blasts rocked several areas of the Gaza Strip overnight into Friday morning, as Israel said its jets had hit targets including two tunnels and two weapons-manufacturing sites belonging to Hamas, which controls the blockaded southern coastal strip.
A children’s hospital in Gaza City was among the sites damaged, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
Earlier on Friday, British foreign secretary James Cleverly called for calm after the latest violence, saying that both sides in the Israel-Palestine dispute should “recommit themselves to a negotiated settlement”.
He said: “The UK condemns the indiscriminate rocket attacks from southern Lebanon and Gaza, and recognises Israel’s right to self-defence. Now is the time for all parties across the region to de-escalate tensions.
“At the convergence of Passover, Ramadan and Easter, the UK calls for all parties to respect the historic status-quo arrangements at Jerusalem’s holy sites and cease all provocative action.”
On Friday, more than 130,000 worshippers poured into the al-Aqsa mosque compound for midday prayers, which took place without incident.
