A young British woman has been stabbed to death in an attack on Jerusalem’s light rail system.

The woman, who has not yet been identified, is said to be in her 20s and believed to be a student visiting Israel as a tourist.

The attack — in which two other people, one a pregnant woman, were lightly wounded — was said to have been carried out by a 57-year-old east Jerusalem resident who police say suffers from mental problems.

The man was arrested at the scene and paramedics from Magen David Adom carried out CPR on the young woman, who had been stabbed numerous times in her upper body.

The woman died of her wounds shortly after arriving at Hadassah Hospital.

The assailant has been named by the Shin Bet as Jamil Tamimi, 57, from the Ras al-Amoud neighbourhood of East Jerusalem.

The Shin Bet said that earlier this year, Tamimi had tried to commit suicide by swallowing a razor blade. In 2011 he had been found guilty of sexually abusing his daughter.

The Shin Bet spokesman said: “This is another case, out of many, where a Palestinian who is suffering from personal, mental or moral issues chooses to carry out a terror attack in order to find a way out of their problems”.

President Reuven Rivlin issued a statement: “The bitter news of the young woman’s death in a terror attack in Jerusalem fills me with deep sorrow.”

Security forces have been on high alert over the Passover and Easter holidays when hundreds of thousands of people visit Jerusalem, and around 1,500 police officers from elsewhere in Israel have been deployed in the city for the duration of the holy days.

The attack occurred near IDF Square in the capital, along Jaffa Road, close to the walls of the Old City.