The shooting took place on a major thoroughfare just as an eerie quiet descended on the city ahead of a widely anticipated Iranian missile attack.
The Israeli police said that four people were killed in a shooting in Tel Aviv on Tuesday and that an additional seven were injured. Two attackers were “neutralized” on the scene, the police said.
The shooting took place just as an eerie quiet was descending on the city ahead of a widely anticipated Iranian missile attack.
The shooting occurred on Jerusalem Boulevard, a major tree-lined thoroughfare and important public transportation route in the city’s Jaffa neighborhood. Israel’s emergency service agency, Magen David Adom, said it was treating the injured, two of whom were critically wounded and had lost consciousness.
Images broadcast on Israeli television showed two gunmen in street clothes carrying large rifles. Video shared widely online showed injured people lying on the sidewalk on Jerusalem Boulevard.
The shooting took place shortly after Tel Aviv residents were advised by Israel’s home front command to stay close to bomb shelters and avoid any unnecessary travel or outdoor activities. The streets of the city were quickly emptying.
Not long after the shooting, the air raid sirens of Israel’s air defense system began to sound across Tel Aviv, sending residents fleeing for shelters. Loud booming explosions were heard over the city a short time after, and flashes of light from Israel’s air defense system could be seen.
Aaron Boxerman contributed reporting.
Liam Stack is a Times reporter on special assignment in Israel, covering the war in Gaza. More about Liam Stack