Palestinian assailant shot dead after wounding 6 people

A Palestinian assailant, firing from a car, shot and wounded at least six people in Jerusalem on Sunday and was then killed by Israeli police, police and medical officials said.

At least two of the wounded - a police officer and a female pedestrian - were in critical condition.

The incident, near Israeli national police headquarters, began when shots were fired from a car at people waiting at a tram stop, the spokeswoman said. The assailant then drove off, chased by motorcycle police, and shot and wounded a woman motorist, a police spokeswoman said.

"When the terrorist spotted the police he fired at them, and they managed to shoot and kill him," she said. One of the police officers was shot by the gunman.

Medical officials said six people were wounded in the attack. Police identified the assailant as a 39-year-old Palestinian from East Jerusalem.

In the past year, Palestinians, many acting alone and often with rudimentary weapons, have killed at least 33 Israelis and two visiting Americans in attacks.

During that period, at least 220 Palestinians have died in violent incidents in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. Of those, 149 were identified by authorities as assailants while others were killed during clashes and protests.

Palestinian leaders say assailants are acting out of desperation over the collapse in 2014 of peace talks and the expansion of Israeli settlements on occupied land that Palestinians seek for an independent state.