Three Israelis killed in stabbing attack near Tel Aviv

A pair of attackers went on a stabbing rampage in a town near Tel Aviv on Thursday night, killing at least three people and wounding four others before fleeing in a vehicle, Israeli authorities said.

Police launched a massive search for the assailants, setting up roadblocks and dispatching a helicopter. The stabbing, coming on Israel's Independence Day, was the latest in a string of deadly attacks in Israeli cities in recent weeks.

Early Friday, Israeli police said a search was underway for two Palestinian suspects from the occupied West Bank. The suspects, aged 19 and 20 years old, came from Jenin, the hometown of other assailants involved in recent attacks in Israel. The town and its surroundings have seen frequent Israeli military raids and clashes with Palestinian militants in recent weeks.

“We will get our hands on the terrorists and their supportive environment, and they will pay the price,” Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said after huddling with senior security officials late Thursday.

Israeli-Palestinian tensions have soared recently, with the attacks in Israel, military operations in the occupied West Bank and violence at Jerusalem's most sensitive holy site. The site, home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, was the scene of new unrest earlier Thursday.