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 An Israeli officer killed a Palestinian man suspected of carrying out a stabbing attack at a traffic junction between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv on Thursday, Israeli police said.

The suspected assailant got out of his car at a traffic light near the city of Modi'in in Israel, , and began stabbing and firing pepper spray at passengers in nearby cars, Israeli police said.

A border police officer in plain clothes who was driving in the area saw the attack and fired several shots at the suspect, killing him, police added.

Paramedics at the scene treated eight people who sustained light wounds, five from pepper spray and three from superficial cuts, the Israeli Magen David Adom (MDA) ambulance service said.

A spokesperson for Hamas praised Thursday night's attack, the latest in a string of deadly incidents that have stoked fears of an escalation.

Since January, at least 90 Palestinians Israel intensified its raids in the spring following a spate of lethal street attacks by Palestinians that killed 18 people.

(Reuters)