NOS News••Amended
An attack was carried out on a group of foreign tourists in Tel Aviv last night. Someone drove into them and they were also shot at. A 36-year-old Italian was killed and at least five other tourists were injured, Israeli authorities say.
The gunman was shot, local police say. According to police, he was trying to get his gun when he was “neutralised”. It’s not exactly clear how he is doing. Videos are circulating on social media showing a body on the ground with an overturned car next to it, while shots ring out in the background.
More details are not yet known, but the State Department speaks of “a terrorist attack”, a term that the Israeli authorities usually use for attacks by Palestinians. Italian Foreign Minister Tajani speaks on Twitter of a “cowardly attack”.
Tensions in the region have risen after Israeli raids on the Al-Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, which is also important to Jews. Earlier today, two British women, who have lived in Israel for years, were killed in a shooting incident in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The women’s mother was injured.
The attacks have not yet been claimed. The radical Hamas movement in power in Gaza calls the attack in Tel Aviv a response to Israel’s “crimes against the Al-Aqsa mosque and believers”. Hamas issued a similar response to the attack on the West Bank.
Prime Minister Netanyahu has called on police to mobilize all Border Police reservists. The IDF, the Israeli defense forces, must also deploy additional troops to “face the terrorist attacks”.
One dead, several injured in Tel Aviv attack
