Israeli medics said at least five people were killed in a shootout in a Tel Aviv suburb, the third such incident in less than a week.
Amateur videos broadcast by Israeli television stations showed a man dressed in black walking down a street with an assault rifle in Bnei Brak, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish town east of Israel’s commercial capital.
The gunman was later identified as a 26-year-old resident of Ya’bad, near Jenin in the northern West Bank. He is said to have worked on a construction site in Bnei Brak and previously served a short sentence in an Israeli prison for a security offence.
The attack caps one of the bloodiest weeks in Israel in recent years and has stoked fears that the Islamic State is attempting to launch a violent campaign ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins next weekend.
Two previous attacks in Hadera and Beersheva are said to have been carried out by sympathizers of the terrorist group. Tuesday’s attack was not immediately linked to any organization.
Witnesses said the Bnei Brak gunman began shooting at apartment balconies and then at people in the street and in a car before being fatally wounded. Close-up video footage shows a slim man dressed in black walking down a street with an assault rifle after a cyclist happily got away.
Magen David Adom emergency services said the gunman killed at least five people. “The terrorist was liquidated,” said ambulance spokesman Zaki Heller. He was reportedly shot dead by a police officer.
The incident followed the conclusion of a summit between Arab foreign ministers from Morocco, Egypt, the UAE and Bahrain and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken hosted by Israel in the Negev desert. The gathering had drawn the wrath of Hezbollah in Lebanon, which it had described as “treacherous,” and had been vigorously opposed by Islamic factions in Gaza.
Tensions have also risen in the West Bank after several deadly clashes between residents and border police. Israeli officials had warned of deteriorating conditions across the West Bank. The annual commemoration of Land Day, which marks the deaths of six Israeli Arabs killed in 1976 during protests against proposed land appropriation, is scheduled to take place on Wednesday.
Last week’s attack in Beersheba, which killed four people in a stabbing and car ramming spree, was carried out by an Arab citizen of Israel who authorities said was an Islamic State sympathizer.
On Sunday, as the Arab summit in southern Israel was convening, an Arab attacker living in a town in the north of the country shot dead two police officers in Hadera, a town about 30 miles north of Tel Aviv. Other officers shot and killed him.
The Islamic State claimed responsibility for both attacks. The terrorist group is not known to have a significant presence in the country. However, the presence of sympathizers who drew inspiration from the leaders of the group has long been a problem.
Reuters and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report