Seven people were killed and 10 were injured in a synagogue shooting attack on the outskirts of Jerusalem on Friday, Israel's foreign ministry said.

Israel's ambulance service put the death toll at five, and said another five people were wounded and transported to hospitals, including a 70-year-old woman.

Israeli police described it as a "terror attack" and said it took place in a synagogue in Neve Ya'akov, considered by Israelis as a neighbourhood within Jerusalem, while Palestinians and most of the international community consider it occupied land illegally annexed after a 1967 Middle East war.

The incident comes a day after the deadliest raid in the West Bank in years, and falls on the Jewish Sabbath.

In Gaza, Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem told Reuters: "This operation is a response to the crime conducted by the occupation in Jenin and a natural response to the occupation's criminal actions", though he stopped short of claiming the attack.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad also praised but did not claim the attack.