The Israeli police said that four people were killed in a shooting in Tel Aviv on Tuesday and that an additional seven were injured. Two attackers were “neutralised” on the scene, the police said.

The shooting took place just as an eerie quiet was descending on the city ahead of a widely anticipated Iranian missile attack.

It occurred on Jerusalem Boulevard, a major tree-lined thoroughfare and important public transportation route in the city’s Jaffa neighbourhood. Israel’s emergency service agency, Magen David Adom, said it was treating the injured, two of whom were critically wounded and had lost consciousness.

Images broadcast on Israeli television showed two gunmen in street clothes carrying large rifles. Video shared widely online showed injured people lying on the sidewalk on Jerusalem Boulevard.

The shooting took place shortly after Tel Aviv residents were advised by Israel’s home front command to stay close to bomb shelters and avoid any unnecessary travel or outdoor activities. The streets of the city were quickly emptying.

Not long after the shooting, the air raid sirens of Israel’s air defence system began to sound across Tel Aviv, sending residents fleeing for shelters. Loud booming explosions were heard over the city a short time after, and flashes of light from Israel’s air defence system could be seen.

1,000 more troops

President Joe Biden is sending a “few thousand” more troops to West Asia, the Pentagon said on Monday, as tensions rise amid Israel’s intensified attacks against Hezbollah.

Defence department officials said the additional forces would bolster security for the 40,000 US troops already in the region and help with the defence of Israel.