Palestinian gunman kills two in drive-by rampage and is shot dead by police in Jerusalem hours before he is due to start jail term for assaulting an officer

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A Palestinian with a history of violence murdered two people in a drive-by shooting rampage in Jerusalem before he was killed in a gun fight with police.

The 39-year-old attacker had been due to report to prison for assaulting an officer when he drove towards a train station near the Israeli police headquarters and opened fire. 

He seriously wounded a 60-year-old woman waiting at the station before shooting another woman sitting in her car and speeding off towards an Arab neighborhood in east Jerusalem.

Police officers on motorcycles chased the assailant, who eventually stepped out of his vehicle and opened fire at them. A 30-year-old police officer was critically wounded in the shootout.

A separate police force ultimately shot and killed the attacker, who was identified as a man from the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan.

A Palestinian with a history of violence murdered two people in a drive-by shooting rampage in Jerusalem before he was killed in a gun fight with police. Israeli police are pictured at the scene of the attacker's death

Israeli media reported the man had previously served multiple sentences for violent acts and was due to report to prison Sunday for another sentence over assaulting a police officer.

Israel's Magen David Adom emergency medical service said it treated seven people for various gunshot injuries, two of whom later died of their wounds. 

Police cordoned off the area of the shooting and briefly shut down traffic on the light rail.

The attack was an unusual one in the year-long spate of Palestinian assaults since most have been stabbings. 

Sunday's was the deadliest attack on Israelis since June 8, when two Palestinians opened fire and killed four people at a popular Tel Aviv food market.

Israeli police secures the scene where a car driven by a Palestinian gunman was intercepted by the police and gunman shot dead in Jerusalem

Police officers on motorcycles chased the assailant, who eventually stepped out of his vehicle and opened fire at them. A 30-year-old police officer was critically wounded in the shootout 

The Palestinian attacks began around last year's Jewish high holidays and have since killed 36 Israelis and two visiting Americans. 

About 219 Palestinians have been killed during that period, with Israel saying the vast majority of them were attackers.

Israel has warned that the potential for violence could rise as the Jewish high holidays approach once again and has beefed up its security presence. 

There has been a recent surge in Palestinian attacks that shattered weeks of relative calm and raised fears of a return to the near-daily attacks seen previously.

Israel has blamed the violence on incitement by Palestinian political and religious leaders, compounded on social media sites. The Palestinians say it is rooted in some 50 years of military occupation and dwindling hopes for independence.

Israeli media reported the man had previously served multiple sentences for violent acts and was due to report to prison Sunday for another sentence over assaulting a police officer

Fawzi Barhoum, a spokesman for Gaza's Islamic Hamas leaders, welcomed the attack in a statement saying it was 'a natural response.' Hamas stopped short of taking responsibility for the attack but identified the assailant as one of its members.

Internal Security Minister Gilad Erdan said there were no specific warnings of an attack ahead of time and the quick response of security forces on the scene prevented a deadlier result. 

He repeated his previous criticism of social media sites that allow militants to spread their messages of incitement.

'It has an impact. It pushes people out to the streets to commits acts of murder and terror,' he said.