Israel: Two dead in an attack in Tel Aviv, the attacker on the run
Members of the Israeli security forces visit the scene of the attack in central Tel Aviv on April 7, 2022. AFP - JACK GUEZ
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A new armed attack, causing scenes of chaos in the heart of Tel Aviv, left at least two dead and many injured Thursday evening, still mourning Israel after a recent series of attacks.
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Magen David Adom, the equivalent of the Israeli Red Cross, said 16 injured people had been transferred to local hospitals in connection with the attack on Dizengoff Street, in the heart of Tel Aviv with its bars and cafes.
“
We received several seriously injured people with different types of injuries, mainly to the chest, abdomen and some to the face (…) unfortunately two of them died and we are currently fighting to save lives
” , Director of Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv, Ronni Gamzu, told AFP.
Witnesses on the spot told AFP that they heard gunshots and saw scenes of chaos in the center of Tel Aviv where the Israeli police were heavily deployed.
The police asked the population not to go outside in order to avoid being the target of fire or hindering the work of the officers who were conducting a manhunt.
“
The terrorist has fled and we are doing everything we can to track him down
,” Israeli police spokeswoman Mirit Ben Mayor said on Dizengoff Street, adding that “
hundreds
” of officers were on the heels of the assailant
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett held talks with the country's senior security officials after which he decided to "
strengthen
" the presence of law enforcement in Tel Aviv.
“
It was a very difficult night... no matter where this terrorist is hiding, we will find him.
And whoever helped him, indirectly or directly, will pay the price
,” Bennett said, after the fourth attack in less than three weeks in Israel that left at least 13 people dead.
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To read also: Israel buries its dead and fears a new spiral of violence
Last week, a Palestinian from the occupied West Bank opened fire on crowds driving through the Jewish-Orthodox town of Bnei Brak, near Tel Aviv, killing five people, including two Ukrainians and an Arab Israeli policeman.
A few days earlier,
two police officers had been killed in a shooting
claimed by the jihadist organization Islamic State in Hadera.
And on March 22, in Beersheva, a major city in the Negev desert, four Israelis were killed in a stabbing and car-ramming attack carried out by a teacher sentenced in 2016 to four years in prison for planning to go to Syria in order to fight within the IS.
With agencies
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