After a Palestinian gunman killed three people in a popular nightlife district, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Friday gave security agencies “absolute freedom” to stem an escalation in violence. “This war knows no bounds and will never be,” Bennett said, speaking hours after Thursday night’s attack on the coastal city of Tel Aviv.
“We are giving full freedom of action to the military, the Shin Bet (domestic security agency) and all security forces to defeat terrorism,” he said. The Palestinian Islamic movement Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, and the Islamic Jihad group praised the attack – drawing criticism from the United Nations – but did not claim responsibility.
After an overnight search, Israeli police said they shot a Palestinian gunman who opened fire on a street of a crowded bar and restaurant, killing three people and injuring more than a dozen. . About 1,000 heavily-armed police and army troops were driven out into Tel Aviv to track down the attacker, as residents took refuge in restaurant kitchens or in their homes.
Defense Minister Benny Gantz said authorities had made “nearly 200 arrests”, adding: “There will be thousands if necessary.”
Engagement party gets woken up
Israel’s childhood friends Tomar Morad and Aytam Magini, both died late Thursday. Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Hospital said Barak Lufan died of injuries on Friday. Maggie was supposed to celebrate her engagement on Friday, her fiancé’s mother, Lia Arad, told public television.
“They were about to have their engagement party tonight, Aytam’s cousins held it in this house where we are now sitting in mourning.” Morad Hapoel was an ardent fan of the Tel Aviv basketball club, sending “a warm and loving embrace” in a condolence note. Both friends are to be buried on Sunday.
Police Commissioner Yakov Shabtai said special forces confronted the attacker in the historic Arab district of the old city of Jaffa, Tel Aviv, “to eliminate the terrorist by an exchange of fire”.
The Shin Bet named him Rad Hazem (28), a native of Genin in the north of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where three people were killed in a raid by Israeli forces last week.
A total of 13 people have died in these attacks. Israel Since March 22, including some carried out by attackers linked to or inspired by the Islamic State group.
In the same period, at least nine Palestinians, including the attackers, have been killed.
‘There is no glory in terror’
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the attack, saying “the killing of Palestinian and Israeli civilians only worsens the situation,” the Palestinians’ official Wafa news agency reported. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington stands with Israel “In the face of senseless terrorism and violence”.
The attacker’s father, Fati Hazem, spoke in a defiant voice to hundreds of well-wishers at the family home in Jenin, saying the Palestinian people were looking for “freedom and independence”.
Hamas called it a “heroic operation”, while Islamic Jihad called it a “natural response”. Israelof crimes. Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah hailed the “victorious” attack.
The UN envoy for Middle East peace, Tor Venesland, condemned a “heinous attack” and slammed Hamas in a tweet.
“Sorry to welcome the attack by Hamas. There is no glory in terrorism,” he said.
‘a nightmare’
Ichilov Hospital was treating eight people, one of whom was in critical condition, while eight people with less serious injuries were taken to other hospitals and later discharged. On Friday, mourners lit candles and left flowers outside the bar where the attack took place, as residents felt fear.
Dror Yehskell, 39, said, “People ran out into the street shouting ‘there’s a terrorist’, so we got inside a restaurant and people panicked.”
Noah Roberts, 21, who works in a bar across the street from the attack, said she heard dozens of shots fired as panicked customers and staff ran for two hours to seek shelter and hide.
“It was so scary… it was like a nightmare,” Roberts said.
The attack took place on the eve of Friday prayers, the first of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, as Israeli security forces were on alert.
Prayers were held peacefully at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem, the third holiest site in Islam, linked to Israel.
Police said 55,000 Palestinians took part, while many Palestinians said they were turned back by Israeli security forces at the Qalandiya checkpoint outside Jerusalem.
Last year, nightly demonstrations at the al-Aqsa compound and elsewhere in East Jerusalem turned into an 11-day war between the two countries. Israel and Hamas.
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