3 wounded, including 1 critically, in shooting in central Tel Aviv
Police say gunman who opened fire at people at cafe on Dizengoff Street shot dead by two officers; another victim in serious condition
Three people were shot and wounded in a terrorist shooting in Tel Aviv on Thursday night, police and medics said.
Police said the attacker opened fire at people sitting outside a cafe on the corner of Dizengoff Street and Ben Gurion Street. He then fled the scene while shooting at other people in the area, before being shot dead in a shootout with police officers.
The Magen David Adom ambulance service said the three victims were taken to the Ichilov Hospital in the city. One victim was listed in critical condition, while the other two were listed in serious and moderate condition, MDA said.
The hospital said the critically wounded victim was stabilized and was to undergo surgery along with the other man who was seriously hurt. Another two victims were brought to the hospital to be treated for anxiety.
Police said the shooting was considered a terror attack.
The terrorist was shot dead by two police officers who were at the scene, law enforcement officials said. The terrorist’s identity was not immediately known to police.
Images circulating on social media were said to show the attacker during the shooting.
Several videos showed the moments of the alleged gunman was shot by the officers.
“I saw a terrorist and I hid,” an eyewitness told the Ynet news site. “I saw policemen running toward the corner of the building. A shootout started between them. He came [out from behind the building] and they neutralized him,” the eyewitness said.
The shooting shook the city at the end of a tumultuous day that saw masses of Israelis throughout the country engage in protests against the government’s plans to weaken the judiciary, and as protest marches and events were ongoing in multiple locations in the city.
In light of the attack, Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai called on anti-government protesters to clear the streets in order to allow police to secure the area.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was being updated on the attack from the headquarters of the Shin Bet security agency, his office said.
Tensions between Israel and the Palestinians have been high for the past year, with the IDF conducting near-nightly raids in the West Bank amid a series of deadly Palestinian terror attacks. Those tensions have ramped up even further in recent weeks amid a cycle of Israeli raids and Palestinian revenge attacks, as well as an uptick in settler violence.
Earlier Thursday, undercover police officers killed three Palestinian Islamic Jihad members who opened fire at them in the West Bank village of Jaba’.
A string of Palestinian attacks in Jerusalem and the West Bank in recent months left 14 Israelis dead and several more seriously hurt.
At least 74 Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of the year, most of them while carrying out attacks or during clashes with security forces, but some were uninvolved civilians and others were killed under circumstances that are being investigated.
TIMES OF ISRAEL
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