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Three people injured in Tel Aviv shooting; Hamas claims authorship

A Palestinian gunman wounded three people in a shootout in Tel Aviv on Thursday before being killed by police. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the attack a “terrorist attack” amid growing unrest in the West Bank.

The Islamist militant group Hamas claimed the gunman, a 23-year-old man from the West Bank, was a member of the organization.

Police cordoned off a corner of Dizengoff Street in the city center where the attack took place. A restaurant emptied after customers apparently fled mid-meal, Reuters footage showed.

Medics treated the injured on a nearby sidewalk. “Two police officers and two civilians who were in the area confronted the terrorist and killed him,” said Israel’s police commissioner.

The shooting comes after a series of attacks by Palestinians in Jerusalem and the West Bank that have killed 13 Israelis and a Ukrainian woman since late January.

Last year, Israeli forces made thousands of arrests in the West Bank and killed more than 200 Palestinians, including fighters and civilians. More than 40 Israelis have died in attacks by Palestinians in the same period.

“There was another terrorist attack in the heart of Tel Aviv tonight,” Netanyahu said after being updated on events during a visit to Italy.

“We have strengthened the security forces and the police, who are fighting terrorists tonight and every night,” he added.

The Israeli military later stressed that it was operating in the West Bank town where the Hamas gunman lived.

Response to another shooting

Earlier on Thursday, Israeli forces killed three gunmen from the Islamic Jihad militant group in a firefight in the West Bank. Hamas said the Tel Aviv shooting was a response to that.

“The heroic operation is a natural response to the crimes committed by the occupation,” said Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem.

The three wounded in the Tel Aviv shooting were rushed to a hospital, one of them in serious condition.

US Ambassador to Israel Thomas Nides wrote on Twitter: “Shocked by tonight’s brazen terrorist attack in Tel Aviv, which targeted innocent people. Praying for those who were injured.”

The attack came hours after US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ended a brief visit to Israel during which he urged all sides to de-escalate violence.

After the shooting, Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai asked protesters protesting a planned judicial reform to stay at home.

Source: CNN Brasil

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