Israeli police shoot dead Arab man wanted over Tel Aviv shooting — report

Israeli police have killed an Arab Israeli wanted over a shooting incident in Tel Aviv last week, in which three people were killed, according to Israeli media.

Nashat Melhem was in hiding at a mosque in a northern Arab town of Arara when police tracked him down, according to various media reports.

Melhem was killed in a shootout with police counter-terrorism (YAMAM) forces at the Wadi Ara mosque around 4:20pm local time, Ynet news reported.

He opened fire at law enforcers as he was leaving the building. He reportedly used the same weapon as in the Tel Aviv shooting, which happened on January 1.

Following the shooting, which killed three people and injured seven, police launched a manhunt for the perpetrator. His relatives had identified him from CCTV footage of the Tel Aviv incident and tipped off police.

Since the shooting police have heightened security in Tel Aviv and its environs, with security forces patrolling the area in large numbers.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated security forces for "acting relentlessly, methodically, and professionally to locate and neutralize the terrorist."

He was joined by Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon who said "the elimination of the terrorist Nashat Melhem proves once again that the State of Israel would pursue its malefactors anywhere – within the state, along its borders and even far beyond them."

The motives for the shooting on January 1 remain unclear.

Melhem was arrested in 2007 for attacking an Israeli soldier and served five years in jail. The assault on the soldier was in revenge for the death of his cousin, who was killed during an Israeli police raid in 2006.