JERUSALEM - Two officers were wounded on Thursday in a shooting in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem and the gunman was killed by Israeli forces, police said, as tensions spike amid deadly fighting with Gaza militants.

An armed 20-year-old man from the city’s eastern sector “opened fire at police officers who were standing in front of the” Shalem police station near the Old City, police spokesman Dean Elsdunne said.

An AFP photographer saw what appeared to be a dead body outside the police station with dozens of officers in the area.

One of the officers was in serious condition and the other was lightly wounded, police said citing medics.

As the gunman “attempted to flee the scene”, officers “managed to... successfully neutralise him. He was declared deceased at the scene”, said Elsdunne.

At least 33 Palestinians have been killed in east Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank in violence related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since Saturday, when Hamas militants launched a major assault.

Israel is reeling under the surprise multi-pronged attack that began early Saturday and has claimed at least 1,200 lives in Israel.

More than 1,400 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli air strikes and artillery fire on the blockaded Gaza Strip since Saturday, according to official figures. AFP