Palestinian kills two people in stabbing attack in Israel

HOLON, Israel (Reuters) - A Palestinian attacker killed two people and wounded two others in a stabbing spree in central Israel on Sunday before being shot dead by police, Israeli authorities said.

The stabbings took place during morning rush hour in the city of Holon, near Tel Aviv. The attacker stabbed people near a gas station and a park, Israel's ambulance service said.

Two senior citizens, a man and woman, were killed and two other people were wounded and rushed to hospital, medical officials said.

"The terrorist was quickly neutralized by one of our officers at the scene and prevented him from carrying out an even worse attack," police spokesperson Eli Levi said on Israel's Channel 12.

A police statement said police were present in force at the scene and were "conducting extensive searches with a helicopter and additional resources".

The Islamist group Hamas, which is at war with Israel in Gaza, said in a statement that the stabbing attack was a "natural response" to Israeli attacks on Palestinians and to the assassination of the group's leader, Ismail Haniyeh, last week in Tehran.

However, it stopped short of claiming responsibility for Sunday's attack.

(Reporting by Rami Amichay and Ari Rabinovitch; Editing by Clarence Fernandez, Elaine Hardcastle and Gareth Jones)