Tel Aviv attack suspect 'killed by Israeli forces'

Israeli security forces shot dead a Palestinian man who has been on the run for eight days after allegedly shooting a number of people in Tel Aviv, Israeli police have said.

Nashat Melhem was suspected of being the gunman who shot and killed two people at a bar in central Tel Aviv and wounded seven others. He was also suspected of killing a taxi driver in the city while making his escape.

The 31-year-old was from the northern Palestinian town of Arara. Israeli media reported that he was killed in an exchange of fire with police in a mosque in his home town.

The police confirmed they had surrounded a building in which he had been hiding in Arara.

In a statement, Israeli police spokesperson Luba Samri said that Israeli police had tracked Melhem down in a building in Arara "using all legally available resources and methods."

She said that he left the building "shooting at forces, who responded by opening fire, resulting in his death at the scene." She added that no Israeli forces were injured during gunfire exchange.

Police said Melhem used the same type of gun used in last week's attack in Tel Aviv.

Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan congratulated the police for "eliminating the terrorist", Haaretz reported.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the police, Shin Bet and the police anti-terrorism unit for "acting relentlessly, methodically, and professionally to locate and neutralise the terrorist".

Earlier on Friday, it was reported that the hunt for Melhem was focusing on the Wadi Ara area in northern Israel.

The police and the Shin Bet security service believed Melhem was hiding either in Wadi Ara, where he lived, or the West Bank, and that an accomplice may have helped him escape.

Melhem's brother Judat was arrested the day after the attacks and charged with being an accessory to murder.

His father Mohammed, who worked for the Israeli police in recent years, implored Melhem to turn himself in to the police on Israeli TV. Mohammed was subsequently l arrested by the police and remains in custody.

Other members of the large Melhem family have also complained of police harrasment in the wake of the shooting. 

"This morning I walked through the police checkpoint and they started asking me questions as though I were hiding the gunman," Israeli news site YNet quoted an unamed family member as saying. 

"My children were very scared. After they finished checking us, they started crying." 

Some human rights groups have also spoken out, saying that the authorities were unfairly targetting Palestinian citizens of Israel. 

Jafar Farah, the director of the Haifa-based Mossawa Advocacy Center For Arab Citizens In Israel, told Palestinian news agency Maan that he opposes "efforts to blame the Arab community". 

"The institutions should be there to protect both Arabs and Jews," he said, while stressing that one of the men killed in the New Year attack was a Palestinian citizen of Israel. 

Cab driver Ayman Shaaban was from Lod, a mixed town north of Tel Aviv. 

Since early October, Israel and the West Bank have been rocked by almost daily alleged attacks. More that 130 Palestinians have been killed, including many alleged attackers. More than 20 Israelis have also been killed.