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Gunman involved in terror attack in Israel's Tel Aviv shot dead
Hamas, a fundamentalist group, has called the barbaric assault "heroic". Reacting to the incident, US Secretary of State Antony J Blinken expressed grief over the incident.
A gunman, who opened fire into a crowded bar in Isarel's Tel Aviv, has been shot dead, news agency AFP reported, citing an official. Two people were killed and several were wounded in the attack. This is the fourth such assault in the country in just over two weeks. Local police say they have found some "indications" that it might be a politically motivated attack, coming at a time when tensions are running between Israel and Palestinians.
Hamas, a fundamentalist group, has called the barbaric assault "heroic".
Reacting to the incident, US Secretary of State Antony J Blinken expressed grief over the incident. In a statement, Blinken also said that the US is "closely following developments and will continue to be in regular contact with our Israeli partners, with whom we stand resolutely in the face of senseless terrorism and violence." "Our hearts go out to the families and other loved ones of those killed, and we wish a speedy recovery to the injured," Blinken was stated as saying.
What happened?
According to reports by news agencies, the shooter opened fire at a packed bar at around 9 pm local time on Thursday and then fled the scene. The shooting occurred on Dizengoff Street which is one of the busiest streets, known for its bars and restaurants. "Our working assumption is that he is still in the vicinity," said Amichai Eshed, the Tel Aviv police commander in an AP report. "As of right now, there are indications pointing to this being a terrorist attack, but I have to be very delicate about this, and say that we are also checking other leads," he added.
The victims
The victims of the assault include two men around 30 years old. Another seven people were wounded, three of them seriously, Israel's Magen David Adom emergency service, informed in a statement to the media.
Attack spree
On March 29, a 27-year-old Palestinian from the West Bank opened fire in the central town of Bnei Brak, killing five people. Two days earlier to this, a shooting attack by two Islamic State group sympathisers in Hadera killed two police officers.
In another such incident, IS supporters killed four people in a car-ramming and stabbing attack in the southern city of Beersheba on March 22. The Hadera and Beersheba attacks were carried out by Palestinian citizens of Israel.
Israel-Palestine tensions
Tensions have been running high after a series of attacks by Palestinian assailants killed 11 people just ahead of the holy Islamic month of Ramazan, which began nearly a week ago. Last year, protests and clashes in Jerusalem during Ramadan ignited an 11-day Gaza war.
In recent weeks, Israeli, Jordanian and Palestinian leaders have also held a flurry of meetings aimed at calming the tensions.
(With agency inputs)
