Tel Aviv shooting: Israel pulls travel permits for 83,000 Palestinians in wake of cafe slayings

Israel has revoked all travel permits for Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza, preventing 83,000 from travelling to see family or go abroad during Ramadan, after four were killed by gunmen in a Tel Aviv cafe on 8 June.

COGAT, a branch of the Israeli military, said it had suspended all travel permits for Palestinians following one of the deadliest attacks in Israel against civilians following an eight month surge in violence.

The Associated Press reported Palestinians will be prevented from travelling through Tel Aviv Airport and barred from attending Ramadan prayers in Jerusalem. Israeli authorities have pulled work permits for 204 of the gunmen's relatives, and has blocked Palestinians from leaving and entering the West Bank village of Yatta, the attackers' home town.

Four people were killed and 16 others injured when two gunmen, both thought to be Palestinians according to AP, opened fire at a packed cafe in Tel Aviv's Sarona market.

Both the attackers have been detained by the Israeli security forces. One of the two, injured in a failed attempt to escape, is now receiving medical treatment.

The suspension of travel from the West Bank and Gaza follows promises from the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Nethanyahu that the Israeli Defence Force would take "decisive" action in the aftermath of the killings.

Speaking to reporters, Netanyahu said: "The terror attack this evening in Tel Aviv is a very difficult event of cold-blooded murder by atrocious terrorists. I send my condolences to the families of the victims, whose lives were destroyed in a moment, and I wish a full recovery to the injured. We will take a series of offensive and defensive steps, we will locate anyone who cooperated with this attack, and we will act firmly and intelligently to fight terrorism."

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but both Hamas and Fatah have praised the shooting incident. The official Twitter account of Hamas hailed the attackers as "heroic" and pledged that more attacks would take place during the period of Ramadan, a holy month in the Islamic faith.

Over the last eight months, Palestinians have carried out dozens of attacks that have killed 32 Israelis and two Americans. On 1 January, an Arab Israeli killed three people in Tel Aviv and in March a Palestinian went on a stabbing spree, killing an American and wounding seven others.

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