Nine Israelis were wounded after a Palestinian man drove a stolen taxi into a police checkpoint outside a Tel Aviv nightclub. He then got out of the car and stabbed five people.

Four police officers were among those hurt in the attack, which occurred just before 2am Monday morning. One person is reportedly in a serious condition.

Media reports say the man — who is aged 21 and whose name has not been released — had attacked a taxi driver with a knife, before stealing his vehicle.

The police checkpoint was set up to guard the entrance to the Haoman 17 nightclub, in the city south, which was full of teenagers.

Israeli police said said the man was from the West Bank city of Nablus, and during the attack screamed "Allahu Akbar" or “God is great”.

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He was wrestled to the ground by civilians and border police officers, and later taken to hospital.

Police spokeswoman police Luba Samri told ABC News the incident was “definitely a terror attack”. She said four policemen, three civilians and the taxi driver had been hospitalized.

As the BBC reports, the incident comes amid heightened tensions following the deaths of eight Israelis near Eilat earlier this month.

Retaliatory Israeli air strikes on Gaza then killed 15 Palestinians.

The Quartet of Middle East peace mediators — the U.N., U.S., E.U. and Russia — has called for restraint.