Tel Aviv shooting: Israel suspends Palestinian permits

An Israeli forensic police officer inspects the scene of the shooting

Israel says it has suspended entry permits for 83,000 Palestinians after gunmen killed four people in an attack at an open-air complex in Tel Aviv.

Two Palestinians from the occupied West Bank opened fire on shoppers and diners at the Sarona precinct, officials said. Police said the attackers were from Yatta, a Palestinian village near the city of Hebron.

Israeli army entered the village of Yatta, where police said the attackers came from

Islamist group Hamas praised what it called an "heroic attack" but did not say it was behind it. The West Bank-based Palestinian Authority has not yet commented on the incident.
There has been a wave of Palestinian attacks on Israelis since last year, with a series of shootings, stabbings and car rammings, although the number of incidents had dropped in recent months.

Wednesday night's attacks took place in two locations in the newly renovated Sarona Market in central Tel Aviv, close to Israel's defence ministry and main army HQ. Both gunmen were in custody.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who visited the scene shortly afterwards, called the attack "a savage crime of murder and terrorism". He promised "intensive action by the police, the army and other security services" to catch accomplices and prevent further attacks, a statement from his office quoted him as saying.

Israel later announced a permit ban that will impact Palestinians in the West Bank and in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip who had planned to visit relatives in Israel, attend Ramadan prayers in Jerusalem or travel abroad via Tel Aviv's airport.

A statement from Cogat, the Israeli body which manages civilian affairs in the West Bank, also said permits for 204 relatives of the attackers had been suspended. It added Palestinians were being prevented from entering and leaving Yatta, and access to the village would only be allowed for humanitarian and medical cases.

According to Israeli media, army forces have also measured the houses of the attackers, in preparation for possible demolition. Wednesday night's incident is the deadliest in a wave of attacks since October, which have killed 33 Israelis.

More than 200 Palestinians - mostly attackers, Israel says  have also been killed in that period. The assailants who have been killed have been shot dead either by their victims or by security forces as they carried out attacks. Some attackers have been arrested.

Other Palestinians have been killed in clashes with Israeli troops.

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