Shooter opens fire in Tel Aviv

A gunman killed two young men and injured several others after firing into a crowded bar in a busy restaurant district in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Thursday evening, the start of the weekend for locals. Officers later tracked down the attacker to an Arab neighborhood in southern Tel Aviv early Friday and killed him in a shootout. Israel's security agency identified the gunman as 28-year-old Raad Hazem, a Palestinian from the occupied West Bank who entered Israel illegally and acted alone. It was the fourth deadly attack in Israel in the past three weeks — the deadliest period for attacks in the country since 2006.

How is Israel’s government responding? Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met with top security officials Thursday and announced he would send large-scale reinforcements to Tel Aviv. Authorities fear the latest attacks will escalate next week when the Muslim festival of Ramadan, the Jewish observance of Passover, and the Christian holiday of Easter coincide.

Dig deeper: From the archives, read Mindy Belz’s report on heightened Israeli-Palestinian tensions.