Terror in Tel Aviv: Chilling security camera footage shows moment two gunmen wearing suits storm into cafe and shoot dead four people ‘including girl aged four’ and injure six
- Gunmen disguised as an ultra-Orthodox Jews carried out terror attack
- Israeli police confirmed three people have been killed in the attack
- One of the three victims is reportedly a four-year-old girl
- At least nine other people were wounded in the shocking shooting
- Israeli police confirm the two gunmen are cousins from the city of Hebron
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Gunmen dressed in dark suits have carried out a terror attack in Tel Aviv leaving at least four people dead.
Around six other people were wounded in the shocking shooting incident, which took place at the Max Brenner restaurant in the centre of the Israeli city.
One person, believed to be a four-year-old girl, was in critical condition, with Israeli police describing the shooting as an apparent attack aimed against Israelis.
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
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The Max Brenner restaurant was packed with diners just as the gunmen began to open fire with machine guns
CCTV footage have revealed the moment customers desperately ran for their lives to escape the gunmen, who opened fire at random with machine guns
Dressed in dark suits, the two gunmen pause to reload before executing a wounded man on the ground
Two shocked members of the public embrace each other after witnessing the horrors of the attack
Got him: A suspect man was forced to the ground and stripped of his clothes by Israeli police, fearing he might be wearing explosives
Fighting for survival: Ambulance staff desperately attend to one wounded individual from the attack
At least nine other people were wounded in the shocking shooting incident, which took place in the centre of the Israeli city
Officials have confirmed that two gunmen were involved, with one attacker was captured while the other was reportedly wounded
Officials have confirmed that two gunmen were involved, with one attacker was captured while the other was reportedly wounded.
‘The terrorists who carried out the attack… are cousins from the Hebron district,’ police spokeswoman Luba Samri said in a statement.
Photographs from the scene have reportedly revealed the gunmen may have used homemade machine guns, known as a Carl Gustav gun.
Israeli police are understood to be looking for a third suspect, who is believed to have fled the scene.
Police said the wounded included those sitting at a coffee shop in the complex. The assailants’ weapons had been retrieved by officers, they said.
The incident occurred in an area of trendy cafes and restaurants very close to the central military headquarters and Defence Ministry compound.
The attack was the first following in lull after almost daily street attacks by Palestinians against Israelis which began in October and lasted several months.
Spokeswoman Luba Samri said shooting was reported in two locations close to the popular open-air Sharona market.
Another spokeswoman, Meirav Lapidot, said initial reports showed there were ‘at least two terrorists’. She said both were ‘neutralised’, which can mean either killed or detained.
Shocking: Bloody handprints mark the walls of the Max Brenner restaurant in Tel Aviv, Israel
Tense times: Heavy armed Israeli security forces look nervous as they stand guard on the streets in Israel
Israeli security forces and emergency personnel are seen at the site of a shooting attack at a shopping complex
The incident occurred in an area of trendy cafes and restaurants very close to the central military headquarters and Defence Ministry compound
Hospital staff have been trying to save the lives of the wounded following the deadly attack in the city
Ms Samri said one of the attackers is being treated in hospital.
Meital Sassi told Channel 10 TV she was out with her family celebrating her son’s birthday when she heard shots and ‘immediately understood it was a terror attack’.
‘We ran like lightning with the baby and the stroller … I yelled at people who didn’t understand what was happening to run,’ she said.
The United States called it a ‘cowardly’ attack, while UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East peace process, Nickolay Mladenov, immediately condemned it.
‘All must reject violence and say no to terror,’ he said in a statement.
‘Our prayers are with the families of those killed. I am also shocked to see Hamas welcome the terror attack. Leaders must stand against violence and the incitement that fuels it, not condone it.’
A medic with United Hatzalah rescuers, in an account relayed by the rescue service, said: ‘When I arrived at the scene I saw two young people who were suffering from gunshot wounds outside of a restaurant at the Sarona centre.’
‘We treated them, as well as numerous other individuals who were suffering from shock.’
The nationalities and other details of the victims were not yet known.
A spokesman for Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai quoted him as saying ‘we will not be able to put a policeman on every street corner’.
‘The lone assailant can appear from any corner,’ he said. ‘That is the reality with which we have to live.’
The city however said in a statement it was increasing security at schools and municipal buildings.
Violence since October has killed at least 207 Palestinians, 28 Israelis, two Americans, an Eritrean and a Sudanese.
Most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks, according to Israeli authorities.
Others were killed in clashes or by Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip.
The violence has steadily declined in recent weeks, though attacks have continued to occur.
Shooting attacks such as the one that occurred Wednesday night have been rare, though Tel Aviv has seen two other major incidents in recent months.
More to follow…
Investigating: Forensic scientists examine the evidence at the scene of the horrific gun attack
The attack was the first following in lull after almost daily street attacks by Palestinians against Israelis which began in October and lasted several months
One person was in critical condition, with Israeli police describing the shooting as an apparent attack aimed against Israelis
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