Two people were were killed in an alleged stabbing and car ramming attack in northern Israel on Friday, police and rescuers said.

Following the incident, the Israeli police alleged the attack had been carried out by a Palestinian, who was shot and wounded by a civilian at the scene of the crime, the Associated Press reported.

The accused allegedly ran over a man and stabbed a woman, killing them both, Israeli emergency services said. After being wounded, the attacker was taken to the hospital, the Israeli police said in a statement.

Police said that preliminary investigation suggests the incident was a “rolling terror attack”. They added that the attack began in the city of Beit Shean in Israel “where a pedestrian was run over”, according to an AFP news agency report.

After the Beit Shean incident, a young woman was stabbed near Road 71, the statement said. “…The suspect was ultimately engaged with gunfire near Maonot Junction in Afula following intervention by a civilian bystander,” AFP cited the statement as saying, adding that the attacker was later taken to the hospital.

Meanwhile, Israel defence minister Israel Katz said the attacker came from the West Bank town of Qabaitya. Katz said he had instructed the military to respond forcefully in the town to thwart further such attacks, AP reported.

The military said it was “preparing for an operation” in the area. A teenager was also hurt in the attack, AP cited the Israeli ambulance service as saying.

Earlier this month, Israeli troops had shot and killed two suspected Palestinian attackers allegedly involved in a pair of attacks that had wounded three Israelis in the occupied West Bank, PTI news agency reported.

The Israeli military said they had killed one suspect, who had stabbed two soldiers when they were confronting him near Ateret, an Israeli settlement in north of Ramallah in central West Bank.