Attacks in Israel, West Bank kill 3 people as violence rises

Palestinian militants carried out a pair of attacks on Friday, killing three people and wounding at least seven as tensions soared after days of fighting at Jerusalem's most sensitive holy site. Earlier in the day, retaliatory Israeli airstrikes had hit Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, sparking fears of a broader conflict.

Israeli authorities said at least one person was killed and six were wounded when a car rammed into four people in Tel Aviv, Israel's commercial hub.

In a separate incident, two Israeli women were shot to death near a settlement on the occupied West Bank.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was calling up all reserve forces in Israel's border police "to confront the terror attacks."

Israel had unleashed rare airstrikes on Lebanon and bombarded the Gaza Strip on Friday morning, but later in the day there were signs that both sides were trying to keep the hostilities in check. Fighting on Israel's northern and southern borders subsided after dawn, and midday prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem passed peacefully.

The early morning Israeli strikes followed an unusually large rocket barrage fired at Israel from southern Lebanon — some of the heaviest and most serious cross-border violence since Israel's 2006 war with Lebanon's Hezbollah militants.

The violence erupted after Israeli police raided the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem earlier in the week, sparking unrest in the contested capital and outrage across the Arab world.

In the Tel Aviv car attack Friday, the driver rammed into a group of people near a popular seaside park, police said. Israel's rescue service said a 30-year-old Italian man was killed, while four other people were receiving medical treatment for mild to moderate injuries.

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