Gunman In Downtown Tel Aviv Kills 2 Israelis

Israeli authorities scoured Tel Aviv on Saturday, looking for the person who killed two people and injured at least seven others in a shooting outside a pub.

The police and the Israel Security Agency increasingly believe that Melhem was also involved in the murder of taxi driver Amin Shaban from Lod, whose body was found on Friday near the Mandarin Hotel in Tel Aviv, about an hour after the attack in Dizengoff Street.

Large numbers of police officers in Tel Aviv are searching for the suspect, Israeli police spokesperson Luba Samri told CNN.

The spokesman said: “All possible angles are being investigated – Large-scale police forces are conducting searches for him”.

Attack… Members of the Israeli security forces patrol the area following an attack by an unidentified gunman, who opened fire at a pub in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv.

The shooting came amid a wave of Palestinian attacks on Israelis, and while police said there was a “strong possibility that this was a terrorist attack”, Netanyahu did not define it as such. Schools in Tel Aviv were scheduled to open as usual on Sunday, though Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai said children whose parents did not send them to school would not be penalized.

Two other victims were seriously wounded, but their condition was reported as stable, while the rest of the wounded received light injuries.

As the manhunt for Milhem entered its fourth day Monday, Erdan told Israel Radio that “there’s no reason to think that the gunman is still in Tel Aviv and not in some other part of the country”.

Nati Shakked, owner of the next-door Simta bar where there were several casualties, told Israel’s Channel 2 TV: “It was a terrorist attack, without a doubt”.

Late Saturday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the site of the shooting and said that “whoever wants to be Israeli must be Israeli all the way”. “I did not educate him in such a way, and I am deeply sorry by what he has done”.

There was no immediate claim by Palestinian armed factions for Friday’s attack.

Since October 1, up to 143 Palestinians and 23 Israelis have been killed in a number of deadly attacks and clashes.

At the same time, according to an AFP count, 138 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces, most while carrying out attacks on Israelis.

Ayman Odeh, who heads the Joint List that groups the main Arab parties in parliament, said that “while not all the details of the incident are clear yet”, he “sharply and clearly” condemned any attack on innocent people.