At least five people died in a car-ramming incident near Jerusalem's Mahane Yehuda market on Monday, media reports said.

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the incident as a 'terror attack'.

The Magen David Adom ambulance service said its medics treated five people at the scene on the corner of Agrippas and Ki’ach streets, including an elderly man in serious condition, reports The Times of Israel.

The man later underwent surgery for multisystemic injuries and doctors were continuing to fight to save his life, Dr. Alon Schwartz, head of trauma at Shaare Zedek hospital, told the newspaper.

A woman in her 30s was listed in moderate condition with injuries to her limbs and will likely also require surgery, Schwartz said.

Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted: " A few minutes ago, not far from here, there was another attempt to murder Israeli citizens. This terrorist attack, in this place, at this time, reminds us that the land of Israel and the State of Israel are acquired through many trials and tribulations."

He said: " These terrorist attacks come with the expectation that they will overcome us and will uproot us from here, and if they could, they would murder us all. "