Two killed, seven wounded, in Tel Aviv shooting

Armed police are searching the area for the suspect, who is still at large.

The incident took place in Dizengoff Street, a busy part of the city centre filled with bars and cafes.

In the other, the gunman is seen shooting outside.

The man’s father, a volunteer police officer from Wadi Ara in northern Israel, contacted the authorities after recognizing his son in footage of the attack shown on television.

Undercover units and counter-terrorism units were working in different areas of Tel Aviv, Mr Rosenfeld said, adding that no specific warning of an attack had been received.

Twenty Israelis, an American and an Eritrean have been killed in a wave of Palestinian attacks since October 1 including stabbings, car-rammings and gunfire targeting security forces and civilians. “All injured taken to Tel Aviv hospitals”, spokesman Micky Rosenfeld wrote on Twitter.

Haim Pinto was closing his jewellery store near the pub when the shooting began. One of the cafe staffers said several people chased after him “but he disappeared” into a side-street.

Witness Gali Morag told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz that she saw the gunman dressed in black with a wool cap running away from the shooting scene as other witnesses chased after him. “He was brown haired, wearing a grey sweater and fled the scene”, he told AFP.

At least 131 Palestinians have also been killed.

An Israeli army spokesperson and Palestinian medical sources confirmed Friday that the operation had been completed.

Sunni militants claiming links to IS have said they were behind similar rocket fire in recent months, but Israel holds the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas responsible for all such incidents.

The security forces know the identity of the 29-year-old gunman, who has been on the run since the attack at a bar on the bustling Dizengoff Street on Friday afternoon.

A Tweet on December 31 warned of an attack on Tel Aviv, according to the Daily Mail, and ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi recently threatened to attack Israel.