One person is said to be in critical condition, and two others are in serious condition.
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The attack killed two people, while the Palestinian assailant was injured and arrested, Israeli police said. Officials say the shooters, both 21 years old, are from the same family in a Palestinian Village in the West Bank and entered Israel illegally. One of them was shot and wounded.
Israeli forensic police inspect a restaurant following a shooting attack at a shopping complex in the Mediterranean coastal city of Tel Aviv on June 8, 2016.
Over the last eight months Palestinian attacks, mostly stabbings, have killed 31 Israelis and two Americans.
The attack occurred across the street from Israel’s heavily guarded Kirya complex, which contains the Defense Ministry.
The shooting, carried out by two West Bank Palestinians, targeted a crowded tourist and restaurant district in the heart of Tel Aviv and was among the deadliest and most brazen attacks in a nine-month wave of violence.
However in the aftermath of the shooting Tel Aviv’s mayor Ron Huldai struck a markedly different tone on Thursday – and stoked controversy – by linking the continuing violence to Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories.
There were no immediate details identifying the attackers or victims.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, returning from a visit to Moscow, rushed directly to the Defence Ministry to assess the situation with senior ministers and security chiefs.
The BBC’s headline “Tel Aviv shooting: Three killed in attack in shopping centre attack” was also markedly void of the keywords.
“We discussed a range of offensive and defensive steps which we shall take in order to act against this phenomenon”, Netanyahu’s office quoted the premier as saying.
Israeli parliament member Bezalel Smotrich tweeted on Thursday that he was “concerned” police hadn’t shot dead the two attackers at the scene, rather than arresting them.
The political leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, applauded the operation, without claiming responsibility. Israel considers the Ramadan permits a goodwill gesture toward Palestinians.
Washington stands firm behind the right of Israel to defend itself and condemns all attacks on Israeli civilians.
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About 200 Palestinians have been killed over this eight-month period, with Israel identifying majority as attackers. Washington also expressed condemnation in a statement and said that cowardly attacks against innocent civilians can never be justified.
