Police kill man accused in Tel Aviv shootings

An Israeli Arab wanted for shooting dead three people in Tel Aviv on 1 January has been killed by security forces in northern Israel. As the special forces closed in on him in the residential area, he came out shooting, she said.

Milhem opened fire on a Tel Aviv bar on New Year’s Day, killing 26-year-old shift manager Alon Bakal and 30-year-old patron Shimon Ruimi, and injuring seven others. Taxi driver Amin Shaaban, 42, was killed a short while later, police said.

Israelis were gripped by the Tel Aviv violence attributed to one assailant despite the dozens of stabbings, auto rammings and shooting attacks carried out by Palestinians in recent months.

Nashat Melhem killed in a gun battle and was tracked all the way down to some mosque in his home town of Arara, authorities said. The rest were killed in clashes with troops.

Police said Melhem used the same type of gun used in last week’s attack in Tel Aviv.

Milhelm’s relatives had said he was “traumatized” after a cousin was shot dead in a 2006 police arrest raid. Mohammed Melhem identified his son as the shooter in the bar attack hours after it took place based on security camera footage that was made public.

Local police have yet to confirm the motive behind the attack, with some fearing the perpetrator had allegiances to the Islamic State group.

So why did the PA not hesitate to pronounce Muhanad Alukabi, the Israeli Bedouin attacker, as a shaheed, whereas they were very slow to decide with Nashat Milhem.

“Netanyahu is using the opportunity to attack the whole community, as he has done for years”, Jafar Farah, director of the Moussawa rights group in Haifa, said.

Gilad Erdan, Israel’s internal security minister, thanked Israelis on Twitter for showing “vigilance, patience and understanding for the complexity of the police operation”.

The PA Ministry of Health initially added Milhem, who is an Israeli citizen, to its list of “martyrs” who were killed by Israelis during the current wave of terrorism, which began in early October.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised security force’s action against Melhem, Army Radio reported.