An Israeli Arab wanted for shooting dead three people in Tel Aviv on January 1 has been killed by security forces in northern Israel. Nashat Melhem was tracked down to a mosque in his home town of Arara and killed in a gun battle, police said. The attacks sparked a huge hunt and security alert across the country. Police said Melhem, 29, was the gunman who killed two Israelis at a bar, then the Israeli Arab driver of a taxi who picked him up after the attack.
Security camera footage showed a suspect taking an automatic rifle out of his backpack and then firing at least 15 shots at people in the street before fleeing the scene. Alon Bakal, 26, who was a manager at the bar, and Shimon Ruimi, 30, were killed. Taxi driver Amin Shaban died after being found critically injured in the north of the city shortly after the shootings. Melhem’s father, Mohammed, identified his son as the suspect and reported him to the police.