The manhunt began in the Tel Aviv area but details of the investigation were under a court gag order.
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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.
The Tel Aviv shooting happened during a time of heightened violence in Israeli territory, which has been called a “wave of terror” by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Standing amid a makeshift memorial to the victims of the attack, including dozens of memorial candles, sent condolences to the families of the victims of what he called a “heinous and unbelievably vicious murder”, and wishes for a quick recovery to the injured.
However, Huldai expressed his empathy toward anxious parents in light of the existing tensions.
Map of Tel Aviv locating gun attack on pub.
“Police are continuing to search for suspect who murdered two Israelis in central Tel Aviv”, spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP, adding that road blocks had been set up in different parts of the city.
Security forces carried out searches throughout the night.
Alon Bakal, 26, the manager of the bar, and Shimon Ruimi, 30, who was in the bar celebrating a friend’s birthday, were killed.
The shooter was identified by his father, Muhammad, who recognized his son in television footage of the attack and immediately contacted authorities.
“Four of the wounded had suffered serious injuries, he said”.
The premier praised “the condemnations of the crime from the Arab sector”, while stressing he expected to hear such from “all Arab members of parliament”.
Arab Israelis, who account for 17 percent of the population in Israel, often complain of discrimination, citing unfair working conditions and living arrangements.
“What is important to me now is that they reach my son and arrest him, because he is still armed”, the Ynet news website quoted the suspect’s father as saying. “Whoever wants to be Israeli must be Israeli all the way”, he said. Palestinians say the violence stems from frustration linked to Israel’s occupation of land they seek for an independent state.
Twenty Israelis, an American and an Eritrean have been killed in a wave of Palestinian attacks since October 1 including stabbings, car-rammings and gun fire targeting security forces and civilians.
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The Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Health stated Friday that Israeli soldiers or settlers in 2015 shot and killed 179 Palestinians, including unarmed protesters, bystanders and alleged attackers.
