Police on Thursday released the names of the four Israelis murdered in a gruesome terrorist shooting in central Tel Aviv Wednesday night.
The victims were: Ido Ben Ari, 42, from Ramat Gan; Ilana Nave, 39, from Tel Aviv; Michael Fayge, 58, from Ramat Gan; and Mila Mishaev, 32, from Ashkelon.
The coordinated terrorist assault on Tel Aviv’s Sarona Market Wednesday evening was one of the deadliest attacks in the city since Palestinian violence erupted last October.
Tel Aviv Police assistant chief Moshe Edri called the shooting a “serious terrorist attack,” saying that two terrorists came to the market and opened fire randomly at civilians. Eyewitnesses said that the terrorists were disguised as religious Jews and wear wearing yarmulkes.
Edri said the police did not have warnings of a terrorist attack at the site. He said police have increased deployments in the city but that school would be open on Thursday and people can keep their normal routine, though he also implored the public to exercise caution and to report suspicious persons.
The two attackers were relatives from Yata in the South Hebron Hills and were said to be in their twenties.
The Hebron area is a known Hamas stronghold.
A number of the wounded were sitting in a single café at the location when they were shot. Gunshots were also reported on Ha’arbaa Street next to the Cinematheque, where at least one of the attackers was arrested after fleeing the scene.
Mayor Ron Huldai said that while Tel Aviv “is a target for terrorists, we will continue to live in this city… terrorism will not defeat us and we must strive for peace.”
Dr. Pini Halperin, head of the emergency room at Ichilov Hospital, said the hospital received 10 wounded people, three of whom later died of their wounds. He said one of the terrorists was among the wounded being treated in the hospital, and was listed in serious condition on Wednesday night.
Police could not confirm reports that the attackers were disguised as haredi men. Videos shot by civilians showed the shooting of one of the attackers not far from the shopping center.
United Hatzalah medic Davidi Dahan said when he arrived at the scene he saw “two young people who were suffering from gunshot wounds outside of a restaurant at the Sarona Market. We treated them as well as numerous other individuals who were suffering from shock.”
MK Itzik Shmuly was nearby when the shooting began. He said he was walking down Ha’arbaa Street when he heard gunshots.
“People started running hysterically in all directions, and I saw what looked like a chase after the terrorist, but I didn’t see him,” he recounted. “Then they took a lot of people to the parking lot to be treated for shock. I went in to try to calm people down.”
Shmuly said many people were nervous because of “disinformation that there’s another terrorist walking around,” but that he was unable to get any confirmation if that was true or not.
MK Amir Ohana, a former Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) agent, drove to the site of the attack after hearing about it while in his car not far away.
“The scene was totally upside down: chairs overturned, broken glass, half-eaten cakes left on tables, and a ton of blood,” he described. “I could see that terrorists shot with automatic weapons, and they were caught soon after.”
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