Jerusalem, Mar 23 (IANS): Four people were killed on Tuesday by an alleged Arab assailant who was later shot dead by a passerby in Israel's southern city of Beersheba, Israeli police said.

The assailant fatally stabbed a woman in a gas station after exiting his car near a shopping mall in Beersheba. He then went back to his car and ran over a bike rider before stepping out of the car again to fatally stab another man and woman, Xinhua news agency reported, citing a statement by the police.

The state-owned Kan TV news reported that the attacker is an Israeli Arab citizen, a Bedouin resident of the village of Hura in the Negev Desert. He previously served prison terms for alleged ties to the terror group Islamic State.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, which is the deadliest in Israel in the past few years.

Police spokesman Eli Levy told Channel 13 TV that the incident appeared to be "an individual terrorist who went on a stabbing spree."

Israeli police were sweeping the area in search of any possible accomplice, according to the police.

Following the event, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett called a security meeting with the internal security minister and the police chief, said a statement from the prime minister's office.