Tel Aviv Shooting Leaves One Man Critically Injured and One Dead

Police and other emergency personnel at the scene of a suspected shooting attack in Tel Aviv, Israel, 5 August 2023. EPA/ABIR SULTAN
Police and other emergency personnel at the scene of a suspected shooting attack in Tel Aviv, Israel, 5 August 2023. EPA/ABIR SULTAN
TT

Tel Aviv Shooting Leaves One Man Critically Injured and One Dead

Police and other emergency personnel at the scene of a suspected shooting attack in Tel Aviv, Israel, 5 August 2023. EPA/ABIR SULTAN
Police and other emergency personnel at the scene of a suspected shooting attack in Tel Aviv, Israel, 5 August 2023. EPA/ABIR SULTAN

At least one man is in a serious condition after a shooting on a street in central Tel Aviv on Saturday, Israeli police said.

The suspected shooter was then shot dead by a municipal patrol officer, Tel Aviv's mayor Ron Huldai told Israel's public broadcaster.

Police identified the gunman as Kamel Abu Bakr, from a village near the flashpoint city of Jenin in the northern West Bank.

A police spokesman told the Israeli public broadcaster the shooter had been "neutralized.”

The shooting comes a day after a Palestinian teen was killed in an attack by Israeli civilians on a Palestinian village in the West Bank.

Washington has expressed concern over a growing number of attacks by Jewish settlers on Palestinian villages in the West Bank, where violence has worsened since last year with increased Israeli raids amid Palestinian street attacks on Israelis.

The man in critical condition is a municipal patrol worker.

Israeli police said that municipal inspectors noticed Bakr, and, believing he was acting suspiciously, approached him. They said Bakr then opened fire, wounding a 40-year-old inspector. An inspector then shot the attacker. Bakr later died at Ichilov Hospital, according to hospital officials.



Iran Strengthens its Militias in Syria

 A man rides a motorbike past damaged buildings in Homs, Syria November 7, 2024. (Reuters)
A man rides a motorbike past damaged buildings in Homs, Syria November 7, 2024. (Reuters)
TT

Iran Strengthens its Militias in Syria

 A man rides a motorbike past damaged buildings in Homs, Syria November 7, 2024. (Reuters)
A man rides a motorbike past damaged buildings in Homs, Syria November 7, 2024. (Reuters)

Iran has increased its diplomatic and military efforts in Syria in response to Israeli escalation and threats to cut off the Tehran-Damascus corridor.

This includes strengthening Iranian-backed militias, which have stepped up attacks on US-led coalition bases and the US-supported Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

These groups are also fighting ISIS in the Syrian desert.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Tuesday that Iran-backed groups launched 89 attacks on US bases in Syria in 2024, using drones and rockets from both Syria and Iraq.

In turn, US forces have upgraded their base defenses, including air defense systems, to intercept drones before they reach their targets.

At the same time, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is expanding its training camps for militias, especially the Iraqi Harakat al-Nujaba, in Syria’s southeastern Homs desert.

Reinforcements from the Zainabiyoun and Fatemiyoun brigades, totaling about 225 fighters, recently arrived in the eastern Deir Ezzor province through the al-Hari border crossing. The fighters are stationed in Al-Boukamal and Mayadeen under IRGC command.

Local sources said Iran is working to strengthen its military presence in the region.

On Monday evening, ISIS launched an attack on Iranian-backed militias in the desert near Tadmur, east of Homs.

Syria's Al-Watan newspaper reported that on Monday, government forces and allied troops fought fierce battles with ISIS cells in the eastern Homs desert.

A military source said the clashes killed several ISIS fighters and destroyed their vehicles, which were armed with heavy machine guns.

The militants had attempted to cross from areas controlled by US forces in the 55-kilometer zone to target military positions near the town of al-Taybah in eastern Homs.