The bomber struck shortly after noon in front of a crowded main street in Tel Aviv, killing at least two people and wounding several others before fleeing. A third victim died from his injuries on Friday.L2N2W523G Hundreds of security officers, assisted by a helicopter with a headlight, combed the streets for hours, while residents were called to stay at home. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Police have found the suspect hiding near a mosque in Jaffa, just south of Tel Aviv, Israel’s Shin Bet security service said. He was killed during an exchange of fire, the agency said. Shin Bet identified the gunman as a 28-year-old Palestinian from Jenin, in the occupied West Bank, who was in Israel without a permit. The specific motive of the attack was not immediately clear. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has said that Israeli forces are on high alert nationwide and that “there will be no restrictions” on their fight to “eliminate terrorism”. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has condemned the attack in Tel Aviv. However, he also warned of the dangers of invading the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem and the “provocative actions of extremist groups”, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported. Days before the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, far-right Israeli lawmaker Itamar Ben-Gvir toured the Al-Aqsa mosque, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, in a move seen by Palestinians as a provocation. It is the third holiest site in Islam and last night there were nighttime clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police during the month of fasting. Fourteen people have been killed in recent weeks in a series of attacks by Arabs and Palestinians in Israel, and more than 20 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank have been killed by Israeli forces since January. Palestinians also report almost daily incidents of violence by Jewish settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which was occupied by Israel during the 1967 war. The Israeli-Palestinian peace process has been deadlocked for years, with settlements expanding into areas where the Palestinians want to be part of an independent state. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Report by Ari Rabinovitch in Jerusalem. Additional references by Ali Sawafta in Ramallah and Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza. Editing by Nick Macfie and Angus MacSwan Our role models: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
