A Palestinian man from the occupied West Bank who commandeered a taxi cab in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv before dawn on Monday, injured at least seven people by running over two and stabbing several others, an Israeli police spokeswoman said.

Spokeswoman Luba Samri said that  the suspected perpetrator, who is 19 or 20 years old, was arrested at the scene.  "He appears to have carried out this assault based on nationalist motives," she added.

She said that the suspect was from the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, and that he shouted "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest), as he struggled with police when they arrested him.

All of the injured were taken to a hospital where one was listed in moderate condition while the others were hurt lightly, the official said.

The suspected perpetrator was also slightly injured by police.

The incident occurred near a nightclub in the Israeli commercial capital where criminal incidents are frequent, but where police have also been on the alert for possible attacks inside Israel after heightened tension along its western borders with Gaza and Egypt in the past 10 days.