'One of the terrorists was yelling about Allah… there was blood and other awful things': Witnesses describe Tel Aviv bloodbath as four dead victims are named

  • Gunmen disguised as an ultra-Orthodox Jews carried out terror attack 
  • Israeli police confirmed identities of the four people killed in the attack
  • Ido Ben Ari, 42, Ilana Naveh, 39, Michael Feige, 58, and Mila Mishayev, 32 
  • Israeli police confirm the two gunmen are cousins from the city of Hebron
  • See more news on the Tel Aviv terror attack as four people are shot dead
  • WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT 

Witnesses have spoken of the horrifying moment when two gunmen disguised as ultra-Orthodox Jews burst into a busy restaurant in Tel Aviv, killing four Israelis and injuring nine people. 

A British-born paramedic described how there was 'blood and other awful things' all over the restaurant where minutes earlier families and friends had dined.

The four victims have been identified as Ido Ben Ari, 42, Ilana Naveh, 39, Dr Michael Feige, 58, and Mila Mishayev, 32, police said Thursday.  

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT 

Murdered: Mother-of-four Ilana Naveh, 39, had been celebrating a friend's birthday when she was shot in the chest by one of the terrorists at the restaurant in Tel Aviv on Wednesday night

Murdered: Mother-of-four Ilana Naveh, 39, had been celebrating a friend's birthday when she was shot in the chest by one of the terrorists at the restaurant in Tel Aviv on Wednesday night

Dr. Michael Feige, 58, head of the Israel Studies program at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, and Ido Ben Ari, 42, an executive at Coca Cola were also killed in the attack

Fourth victim Mila Mishayev, 32, was taken to a nearby hospital but doctors could not save her life

Fourth victim Mila Mishayev, 32, was taken to a nearby hospital but doctors could not save her life

The shooting, carried out by two West Bank Palestinians, targeted a crowded tourist and restaurant district in the heart of Tel Aviv, located across the street from the Israeli military's headquarters.  

'The restaurant looked like a hurricane went through it — there was blood, there were broken chairs and other awful things,' paramedic Avi Marcus told MailOnline.

Mr Marcus added that a colleague had told him that one of the gunmen 'was yelling about Allah' as he was arrested,

'The sounds were of people running to find shelter, running around with all types of stress symptoms, civilians were looking for the deceased.' 

Arele Klein, a 45-year-old caterer and volunteer paramedic, had just finished a meeting nearby when he heard about the incident. 

Devastated: Family members of Ido Ben Ari mourning his death at his funeral earlier this morning

Devastated: Family members of Ido Ben Ari mourning his death at his funeral earlier this morning

The shooting, carried out by two West Bank Palestinians, targeted a crowded tourist and restaurant district in the heart of Tel Aviv, located across the street from the Israeli military's headquarters.

The shooting, carried out by two West Bank Palestinians, targeted a crowded tourist and restaurant district in the heart of Tel Aviv, located across the street from the Israeli military's headquarters.

Got him: A male suspect was forced to the ground and stripped of his clothes by Israeli police, fearing he might be wearing explosives

'He was yelling Allah': A male suspect was forced to the ground and stripped of his clothes by Israeli police, fearing he might be wearing explosives

'I received the call and I was one street away so I ran to the restaurant and got there so quickly that I heard the shots, several shots — there was still shooting.

'As I ran to see where the shots, and as i did so I found a woman of around 40 on the floor with no heartbeat. I tried to resuscitate her, and we gave her electric shock. She is now in hospital in a very serious condition.

'I continued 100 metres to the restaurant, where there was a man in a serious condition, with no heartbeat. 

There were several bullets still inside him, and we tried several life-saving procedures. quickly after he arrived in hospital he was declared dead.'

This man was later identified as Mr Ben Ari. When Klein went inside the restaurant he saw a 12-year-old boy who turned our to be Ben Ari's son. 

'He was crying because he saw his father with blood.' He did not yet know that his father was dead.

'Before the attack they had been sitting there — the father and his wife, and a son and daughter, sitting together having fun.'

Klein is an experienced paramedic with the Zaka organisation who has worked on many terror scenes, but said that this time he can't get the scene out of his head. 

'To see the blood mixed together with the food and the coffee is very difficult — the picture gets in to your head and it doesn't leave.' 

Three of the murdered Israelis had children, and one was an award-winning university professor specialising in the state of Israel.

Married mother-of-four Ilana Naveh had been celebrating a friend's birthday when she was shot in the chest by one of the terrorists.  

The Max Brenner restaurant was packed with diners just as the gunmen began to open fire with machine guns

The Max Brenner restaurant was packed with diners just as the gunmen began to open fire with machine guns

CCTV footage have revealed the moment customers desperately ran for their lives to escape the gunmen, who opened fire at random with machine guns

CCTV footage have revealed the moment customers desperately ran for their lives to escape the gunmen, who opened fire at random with machine guns

Dressed in dark suits, the two gunmen pause to reload before executing a wounded man on the ground

Dressed in dark suits, the two gunmen pause to reload before executing a wounded man on the ground

Mr Ben Ari, whose wife was injured in the shooting, was an former IDF elite soldier who worked as an executive at Coca-Cola's Israeli headquarters, and the father of two children.

Dr. Feige had won proses for a book about Jewish fundamentalism and headed the Israel Studies program at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. 

Witness Meital Sassi told Channel 10 TV she was out with her family celebrating her son's birthday when she heard shots and 'immediately understood it was a terror attack'.

'We ran like lightning with the baby and the stroller ... I yelled at people who didn't understand what was happening to run,' she said. 

The parents of one of the nine injured have told of how their son miraculously survived getting shot in the head twice, 

Asaf Bar was sat with his girlfriend at the busy Max Brenner cafe when the terrorists attacked and shot him in the head.

Amazingly, Mr Bar managed to stay concious throughout the ordeal and was rushed to hospital with his girlfriend, who escaped unharmed.

'He spoke to us now, he can move all his body parts. One bullet remains in his head and the other was removed,' his father told Jerusalem Post.

'He saw the two terrorists and they were laughing. In photographs[you can see] them aiming a gun half-a-metre away from him.' 

Police said the two gunmen, both, in their twenties, are members of the same family from the Palestinian village of Yatta, near the West Bank city of Hebron, which has been a flashpoint for violence in recent months. 

Ahmed Musa Machmara, the father of one of the terrorists, has just express edsurprise at his son's actions.

'The news is hard, because my son is not associated with any terrorist organisation or a political party.' 

Israel has imposed a series of sweeping restrictions on Palestinian movement and deployed hundreds of additional troops to the West Bank in response to the attack. 

As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepared to meet with his Security Cabinet to discuss further responses, the Israeli military announced that it was deploying two additional battalions to the West Bank 'in accordance with situation assessments'. 

The deployment, involving hundreds of troops, includes soldiers from infantry and special forces units. 

Two shocked members of the public embrace each other after witnessing the horrors of the attack

Two shocked members of the public embrace each other after witnessing the horrors of the attack

Fighting for survival: Ambulance staff desperately attend to one wounded individual from the attack

Fighting for survival: Ambulance staff desperately attend to one wounded individual from the attack

At least nine other people were wounded in the shocking shooting incident, which took place in the centre of the Israeli city of Tel Aviv

At least nine other people were wounded in the shocking shooting incident, which took place in the centre of the Israeli city of Tel Aviv

Officials have confirmed that two gunmen were involved, with one attacker was captured while the other was reportedly wounded

Officials have confirmed that two gunmen were involved, with one attacker was captured while the other was reportedly wounded

Among the participants in the Security Cabinet meeting was Israel's new defence minister, Avigdor Lieberman, the leader of an ultranationalist party known for his hard-line views toward the Palestinians. 

Before the meeting, Lieberman visited the site of the shooting and had a cup of coffee in a local cafe.

'I do not intend to speak and detail the steps we intend to take, but I am sure that I have no intention to stop at words,' he said. 

Earlier on Thursday, defence officials suspended tens of thousands of special permits given to Palestinians to visit Israel during the current Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

COGAT, an Israeli defence body, said 83,000 permits for Palestinians in the West Bank to visit relatives in Israel had been frozen.

 Special Ramadan permits were also suspended for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to visit relatives in Israel, travel abroad and attend prayers at the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, COGAT said.

Israel considers the Ramadan permits a goodwill gesture toward Palestinians.

In addition, the military said it had frozen Israeli work permits for 204 of the attackers' relatives, and was preventing Palestinians from leaving and entering the West Bank village of Yatta, the attackers' home village. 

COGAT said entering or leaving will only be permitted for humanitarian and medical cases. 

Shocking: Bloody handprints mark the walls of the Max Brenner restaurant in Tel Aviv, Israel

Shocking: Bloody handprints mark the walls of the Max Brenner restaurant in Tel Aviv, Israel

Pictures from the scene show a gun lying discarded underneath a chair at the cafe which came under attack
Pictures from the scene show a gun lying discarded underneath a chair at the cafe which came under attack

Pictures from the scene show a gun lying discarded underneath a chair at the cafe which came under attack 

Tense times: Heavy armed Israeli security forces look nervous as they stand guard on the streets in Israel

Tense times: Heavy armed Israeli security forces look nervous as they stand guard on the streets in Israel

Israeli security forces and emergency personnel are seen at the site of a shooting attack at a shopping complex

Israeli security forces and emergency personnel are seen at the site of a shooting attack at a shopping complex

The military was also making preparations to demolish the family home of one of the attackers. Israel often responds to attacks by demolishing the homes of the assailants or their relatives - a tactic that is criticised by the Palestinians and human rights groups as collective punishment.

In Tel Aviv, extra police units were mobilised, mainly around the city's central bus station and train stations, said police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld.  

Israeli security officials said the weapons were crudely improvised, indicating that a militant organisation was not involved. 

They said the attackers did not have special Ramadan permits allowing them to enter Israel, but that they had sneaked into Israel illegally to carry out the assault, according to initial assessments.

Hamas, the Islamic militant group that rules Gaza, welcomed the attack but did not claim responsibility.  

After the attacks the leader of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh took to Twitter to express his delight over the deadly shooting in Tel Aviv.

Posting from Gaza, he wrote: 'Glory and salutations to the Hebronites'. He followed the post with the victory sign emoji. 

The incident occurred in an area of trendy cafes and restaurants very close to the central military headquarters and Defence Ministry compound

The incident occurred in an area of trendy cafes and restaurants very close to the central military headquarters and Defence Ministry compound

Hospital staff have been trying to save the lives of the wounded following the deadly attack in the city

Hospital staff have been trying to save the lives of the wounded following the deadly attack in the city

Investigating: Forensic scientists examine the evidence at the scene of the horrific gun attack

Investigating: Forensic scientists examine the evidence at the scene of the horrific gun attack

The attack was the first following in lull after almost daily street attacks by Palestinians against Israelis which began in October and lasted several months

The attack was the first following in lull after almost daily street attacks by Palestinians against Israelis which began in October and lasted several months

One person was in critical condition, with Israeli police describing the shooting as an apparent attack aimed against Israelis

One person was in critical condition, with Israeli police describing the shooting as an apparent attack aimed against Israelis

Hamas official Mushir al-Masri called the shootings a 'heroic operation' and the group later issued an official statement promising the 'Zionists' more 'surprises' during Ramadan.

Islamic Jihad, another militant group, called the shooting a 'natural response' to Israel's 'brutal actions' against Palestinians. But it also did not claim responsibility for the attack.

Over the last eight months Palestinians have carried out dozens of attacks on civilians and security forces, mostly stabbings, shootings and car ramming assaults that have killed 32 Israelis and two Americans. 

About 200 Palestinians have been killed during that time, most identified as attackers by Israel. The assaults were once near-daily incidents but they have become less frequent in recent weeks.

Most of the attacks have been in east Jerusalem or the West Bank, territories Israel seized in the 1967 Mideast war and which the Palestinians want for their future state.

German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier condemned Wednesday's attack.

'Murder and terror are completely without justification and cannot be used as an instrument of political disagreement,' said Mr Steinmeier.    

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