On 1 January 2016, an

Israeli Arab The Arab citizens of Israel form the country's largest ethnic minority. Their community mainly consists of former Palestinian Citizenship Order 1925, Mandatory Palestine citizens (and their descendants) who continued to inhabit the territory ...

gunman opened fire on several businesses on

Dizengoff Street Dizengoff Street (, ''Rehov Dizengoff'') is a major street in central Tel Aviv, named after Tel Aviv's first mayor, Meir Dizengoff. The street runs from the corner of Ibn Gabirol Street in its southernmost point to the port area of Tel Aviv in i ...

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, killing two and injuring seven civilians. He also killed a taxi driver while fleeing. The attack was believed to be inspired by

ISIS Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...

. The event took place in parallel with the 2015-16 Palestinian unrest.

Attack

The gunman, reported to be a young man wearing sunglasses and dressed in black, exited a grocery store and pulled what appeared to be a

submachine gun A submachine gun (SMG) is a magazine (firearms), magazine-fed automatic firearm, automatic carbine designed to fire handgun cartridges. The term "submachine gun" was coined by John T. Thompson, the inventor of the Thompson submachine gun, to descri ...

out of his bag and opened fire on a

sushi is a traditional Japanese dish made with , typically seasoned with sugar and salt, and combined with a variety of , such as seafood, vegetables, or meat: raw seafood is the most common, although some may be cooked. While sushi comes in n ...

restaurant, a cafe, and a bar called "''Ha'Simta''" ("The Alley"), with the bar appearing to be the main target. Shortly after, the suspect took a taxi at

Ibn Gabirol Street Ibn Gabirol Street () (colloquially Ibn Gvirol or Even Gvirol) is a major street in Tel Aviv, Israel. Ibn Gabirol Street is named after the medieval Hebrew poet and philosopher Solomon ibn Gabirol. It carries traffic north and south, and is a bus ...

near

Rabin Square Rabin Square (), formerly Kings of Israel Square (), is a main large public city square in the center of Tel Aviv, Israel. Over the years it has been the site of numerous political rallies, parades, and other public events. In 1995, the square ...

, some 750 meters east of the attack site. He later shot the driver, identified as Arab-Israeli Amin Shaaban, who was found dead near north Tel Aviv's Mandarin Hotel. The two murdered victims at the site of the shooting were identified as Alon Bakal, the manager of the Simta, and 30-year-old Shimon Ruimi of

Ofakim Ofakim () is a city in the Southern District (Israel), Southern District of Israel, 20 kilometers (12.4 mi) west of Beersheba. It achieved municipal status in 1955. It has an area of 10,000 dunams (~3.9 sq mi; 10 km2). In , it had a populatio ...

. The perpetrator's cell phone was found shortly before the attack in an alley in

Ramat Aviv Ramat Aviv Alef or Ramat Aviv HaYeruka, and originally plainly Ramat Aviv (, ''lit.'' Spring Heights), is a neighborhood in northwest Tel Aviv, Israel. History Ramat Aviv was founded in 1950s following the great influx of immigrants from Eastern ...

, a few miles north of the shooting scene. The girl who found the cell phone did not initially realize that it belonged to the perpetrator, and once she did so a day later, she and her father contacted the police.

Selfie A selfie () is a self-portrait photograph or a short video, typically taken with an electronic camera or smartphone. The camera would be usually held at arm's length or supported by a selfie stick instead of being controlled with a self-timer ...

videos from his cell phone were later made public by the

Shin Bet The Israel Security Agency (ISA; , (GSS); ), better known by the Hebrew acronyms, acronyms Shabak (; ; ) or Shin Bet (from the abbreviation of , "Security Service"), is Israel's internal Security agency, security service. Its motto is "''Magen ...

. The videos led officials to believe that the attack was inspired by

Suspect

Police identified the suspect as a 31-year-old named Nashat Melhem, from

Ar'ara Ar'ara (, ; lit. "Juniper tree")Palmer, 1881p.144/ref> is an Arab town in the Wadi Ara region in northern Israel. It is located southwest of Umm al-Fahm just northwest of the Green Line, and is part of the Triangle. In , the population was . ...

, an Arab town in the

Wadi Ara Wadi Ara (, ) or Nahal 'Iron (), is a valley and its surrounding area in Israel populated mainly by Arab citizens of Israel, Arab Israelis. The area is also known as the "Triangle (Israel), Northern Triangle". Wadi Ara is located northwest of t ...

area of northern Israel. He was identified after his father, who works in security, recognized his son from the security footage and noticed that his gun, reportedly a

Spectre M4 The Spectre M4 is an Italian submachine gun that was produced by the SITES factory in Turin. It was designed by Roberto Teppa and Claudio Gritti in the mid-1980s. Production in Italy ceased in the year 1997, with the closure of SITES, but proce ...

, was missing. Melhem had previously been arrested in 2007 for attempting to steal an Israeli soldier's gun. He attacked the soldier with a

screwdriver A screwdriver is a tool, manual or powered, used for turning screws. Description A typical simple screwdriver has a handle and a shaft, ending in a tip the user puts into the screw head before turning the handle. This form of the screwdriver ...

, and said he wanted to avenge his cousin's death, and also said he wanted to sell the gun. Relatives and acquaintances claimed that he had mental health issues and often engaged in "problematic" behavior. Relatives stated he was not religious or affiliated with any political movement.

Investigation

Immediately following the incident, Israeli forces began a massive manhunt throughout the Tel Aviv area for Melhem.

Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who has served as the prime minister of Israel since 2022, having previously held the office from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime min ...

following the incident announced that forces have been increased within relevant areas. With the location of Melhem unknown, Israel requested the

Palestinian Government The government of Palestine is the government of the Palestinian Authority or State of Palestine. The Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (EC) is the highest executive body of the Palestine Liberation Organization and ac ...

's help in searching the

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

for possible information on his whereabouts, to which they later agreed to turn in Melhem if he was in the West Bank. His family stated that if he returned home they would immediately alert the authorities. After several days, Israeli Police expanded their search to northern Arab towns. In the days following the shooting, Melhem's father, Mohammed, along with five other family members and friends, were arrested on charges of premeditated manslaughter, being an accessory to murder, illegal association and conspiracy to commit a crime. The next day, Melhem's brother, Jaudat, was released from prison, but ordered not to return home. The Police requested the court to allow Mohammed Melhem to be kept in police custody for up to 12 days. Melhem's mother stated that police threatened to demolish their home for not releasing their son's whereabouts. On 8 January 2016, an IDF search dog picked up the scent of Melhem's feces. Melhem was then killed by

Yamam Yamam (), also known as National Counter-Terrorism Unit, is Israel's national counter-terrorism unit, one of four special units of the Israel Border Police. The Yamam is capable of both hostage-rescue operations and offensive take-over raids ag ...

counter-terrorism Counterterrorism (alternatively spelled: counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, relates to the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, businesses, and intelligence agencies use to co ...

operators in a mosque in

, following a shootout with the police. Melhem's body was buried in Arara's cemetery on 12 January, with some of the 80 participants, some of which hailed him as a martyr. Following Melhem being located four additional people were arrested on suspicion of aiding Melhem while in hiding. On 27 January, three of Melhem's relatives: Amin and Mohammed Melhem, and Ayoub Rashid, were indicted for abetting Nashat Melhem elude police. In the indictment, Mohammed Melhem was charged with providing Nasha'at Melhem with a new cell phone and Amin Melhem was charged with helping Nasha'at Melhem plan a second attack in Israel.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tel Aviv shooting 2010s crimes in Tel Aviv 2016 mass shootings in Asia 2016 murders in Israel Attacks on buildings and structures in Tel Aviv Deaths by firearm in Israel Spree shootings in Israel Terrorist incidents in Israel in 2016 Terrorist incidents in Tel Aviv January 2016 crimes in Asia Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant activities People killed by Israeli security forces Terrorist attacks carried out by Arab citizens of Israel Attacks on restaurants in Israel Attacks on coffeehouses and cafés in Asia Attacks on bars in Asia Attacks on buildings and structures in 2016 Road incidents in Israel 2016 road incidents in Asia Manhunts Mass murder in 2016 21st-century mass murder in Israel

Attack

Suspect

Investigation

See also

References