In black suits and skinny ties, the attackers ordered dessert from a Max Brenner near the trendy Sarona Market in central Tel Aviv. They stood up, readied their automatic weapons, and began firing into patrons at point blank range.
A man seated close to the attackers stood up to flee, only to come face to face with one of the gunmen. Shot from a few feet away, he clutched his chest and falls to the floor.
Another man ran out through a door between the two shooters, almost colliding with both. Turning to aim at the man, the gunmen end up facing each other – amid the confusion the man scrambled over furniture and escaped while the attacker reloaded.
The other slammed his weapon to the ground in frustration.
The pair were later arrested, one shot and hospitalised. Authorities identified them as 21-year-old cousins from Yatta, a Palestinian town to the south of Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The attack came during an apparent lull in what has been termed the “stabbing intifada”, a series of hundreds of small-scale stabbings, shootings, bombings and car-ramming attacks over the last nine months.
More than 30 Israelis have been killed as security becomes an increasingly high profile political issue in the Mediterranean state. More than 200 Palestinians have also been killed in the wave of violence, a majority of them attackers, according to Israel.
This attack, however, is markedly different from most previous incidents.
The more secular coastal capital of Tel Aviv is almost 20 kilometers from the border with Palestinian territory. Previous attacks have primarily occurred around the divided border city of Jerusalem, or been aimed at Israelis, including soldiers, in the occupied West Bank.
The sophistication of the automatic weaponry is also a concerning factor for authorities. The majority of attackers have used makeshift weapons such as knives, petrol bombs and vehicles.
In response to the latest attack, Israel has suspended entry permits for 83,000 Palestinians. Many Palestinians work or have relatives in Israel, and rely on the neighboring country for use of its airport.
Israeli forces are also preventing anyone from entering or leaving the cousins’ home town of Yatta.
Both cousins were apprehended alive, but that has not always been the case. Israeli authorities have been accused of excessive force and summary executions, with video emerging of an Israeli soldier apparently executing a subdued Palestinian attacker in March.
Israeli forces at the scene of a shooting in Sarona complex in Tel Aviv, Israel, 08 June 2016. Source: AAP
The last shooting in Tel Aviv was in January, a 29-year-old Arab Israeli man killing three with a sub-machine gun.
Authorities have previously raised concerns over the of the vulnerability the market to attack.
