Five killed in mass shooting spree in central Israel

A gunman on a motorcycle opened fire in a crowded city in central Israel late Tuesday, killing at least five people in the second mass shooting rampage this week.

While circumstances were not immediately clear, the shooting appeared to be the latest in a string of attacks by assailants.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett called an emergency meeting of top security officials later Tuesday.

Tuesday’s shootings occurred at two locations in Bnei Brak, an ultra-Orthodox city just east of Tel Aviv. Police said in a statement that a preliminary investigation found that the gunman was armed with an assault rifle and opened fire on passersby before he was shot by officers at the scene.

On Sunday, a pair of gunmen killed two young police officers during a shooting spree in the central city of Hadera, and last week, a lone assailant killed four people in a car ramming and stabbing attack in the southern city of Beersheba.

Hours before the raid, Bennett said the recent assaults inside Israel marked a “new situation” that required stepped-up security measures.

Israeli leaders condemned the killings and pointed to the timing. Both attacks came ahead of a high-profile meeting this week between the foreign ministers of four Arab nations and the United States.

• MENA