UPDATE 2 – 7 Israelis hurt in car-ramming attack in Tel Aviv

UPDATES WITH HAMAS’ CLAIM

By Abdel Raouf Arnaout and Nour Abu Aisha

JERUSALEM (AA) – Seven Israelis were injured in a suspected car-ramming attack in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, according to the Israeli police.

Police said it received a report about “a car that struck a number of citizens” at Pinkhas Rosen Street in Tel Aviv. It said seven people were wounded in the attack.

Army Radio reported earlier that five Israelis had been injured in a car-ramming attack.

Police said the assailant was shot dead by an armed Israeli, according to The Times of Israel newspaper.

Palestinian group Hamas, for its part, claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was a “first response” to an ongoing Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin.

In a statement, Hamas said the attack was carried out by its member Hussein Khalayleh, 23, from Hebron city.

“This operation is legitimate self-defense to the Israeli massacre in Jenin and the crimes of displacement and destruction committed by the occupation forces,” the statement said.

On Monday, the Israeli army launched its largest military operation in Jenin in more than 20 years, killing at least 10 Palestinians and injuring more than 100 others, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

The Israeli offensive came amid rising tensions across the occupied West Bank in recent months amid repeated Israeli raids into Palestinian towns.

Nearly 190 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since the start of this year, according to the Health Ministry. At least 25 Israelis have also been killed in separate attacks during the same period.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi and Mahmoud Barakat