A shooting incident in occupied East Jerusalem has left two people injured, Israeli police said.

According to the police, a car was fired at in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood and "two vehicle occupants were moderately injured."

A search operation for the suspected attacker who fled the scene in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah was underway, police said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the two wounded were being treated for "moderate gunshot wounds."

Tension escalated across Palestinian territories after Israeli forces stormed the Al Aqsa Mosque complex in East Jerusalem and forcibly removed worshippers last week.

READ MORE:Hundreds of illegal Israeli settlers storm Al Aqsa Mosque compound

Rising tensions 

The Israeli raids on the mosque triggered rocket fire from Gaza and Lebanon, with Israel retaliating with airstrikes.

Palestinians accuse Israel of systematically working to "Judaise East Jerusalem," where Al Aqsa is located, and "obliterate its Arab and Islamic identity."

For Muslims, Al Aqsa represents the world's third-holiest site. Jews, for their part, call the area the Temple Mount, saying it was the site of two ancient Jewish temples.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. It annexed the entire city in 1980 in a move never recognised by the international community.

READ MORE: Israel announces restrictions on Palestinian entry to Al Aqsa in Ramadan