Terrorism4 killed, 6 injured in Tel Aviv terror attack (updated)

Four people were killed and six injured in an attack by two armed terrorists near a shopping mall in the center of Tel Aviv.

The Sharona Mall is located within walking distance of the Kyria compound, the location of Israel’s Ministry of Defense and headquarters of the Israel Defense Force (IDF).

The two suspects were caught, and one of them was wounded and is being treated in a Tel Aviv hospital.

Initial reports say the two suspects were dressed in business attire, with jackets and ties.

Israeli intelligence says there was no specific information about a terrorist attack.

The two suspects ordered food in a café just outside the Sharona shopping mall. The police says that the attack could have resulted in many more victims, but rather than enter the mall, which was full of evening shoppers, the gunmen chose to start shooting outside the café.

All Israeli shopping mall have security personnel stationed at the entrances, and one security guard was close enough to the Max Brenner café to realize what was going on. He opened fire at the two assailants, and wounded one of them.

The second terrorist joined civilians in running for cover, but an off-duty policeman suspected him, overpowered him, and turned him over to security personnel.

The police is now searching the area to see if there was another gunman involved in the attack.

The police say the two gunmen were cousins, both 21-years old, from the West Bank town of Yata, near Hebron. One of the terrorists, Haled Mehamra, was a law student in Jordan. His cousin, Muhammad Ahmad Mehamra worked in construction in Beer Sheba.

The police also said there were no known ties between the two and terrorists organizations, but that two of their relatives are high-level Hamas operatives. Both are in Israeli jails.

The Israeli cabinet met yesterday to discuss what steps to take in the wake of the attack. The government already announced that 83,000 permits to West Bank residents to visit their relatives in Israel during the month of Ramadan have been suspended, and that permissions to residents of the Gaza Strip to pray in Al Aqsa have been revoked.

Analysts note that the shooting occurred at a time when Israelis were getting used to a drop in violence in recent months.

The Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, toured the area where the attack occurred.

“We discussed a range of offensive and defensive steps which we shall take in order to act against this phenomenon,” Netanyahu’s office quoted the premier as saying. “There will be intensive action by the police, the army and other security services, not just to catch every accomplice to this murder but also to prevent further incidents.”

Tel Aviv’s mayor, Ron Huldai, who is likely to run for the position of Labor Party leader, struck a different tone by linking the continuing violence to Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories.

Speaking to Army Radio he said: “We might be the only country in the world where another nation is under occupation without civil rights (….) You can’t hold people in a situation of occupation and hope they’ll reach the conclusion everything is alright.”