A young Palestinian man was shot dead after he attempted to stab three people in the Old City of Jerusalem at theweekend, according to the Israeli police.

The suspected assailant was identified by the Palestinian Ministry of Health as 17-year-old Ahmad Gazal, a resident of Nablus in the northern West Bank.

According to reports, the teen stabbed two civilians aged 18 and 20 in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City, before fleeing the scene and then attempting to hide in an apartment building.

He then stabbed a Border Police officer during the struggle to apprehend him, and was shot and killed by another officer, according to police.

All three of the stabbing victims were taken to local hospitals for treatment.

Gazal had reportedly been visiting the iconic Dome of the Rock before he went on the attack. 

The incident comes after a Palestinian woman from East Jerusalem was shot and killed by police officers last Wednesday, after pulling out a pair of scissors and trying to stab a group of officers by the Old City's Damascus Gate.

The woman was identified as 49-year-old Siham Ratib Nimr, from East Jerusalem.

She was the mother of Mustafa Nimer, who was shot dead by Border Police in September outside of the Shuafat refugee camp in East Jerusalem after reportedly being mistaken for a terrorist.

Following the incident last Wednesday, the Old City of Jerusalem was closed off for a period.