3rd LD Writethru: Four people killed in shooting attack in Israel's Tel Aviv

The death toll from a shooting attack in the central Israeli city of Tel Aviv Wednesday night rose to four after a woman died from her wounds at hospital.

Three Israelis were pronounced dead earlier on Wednesday evening following the deadly attack, while the fourth victim was said to be in critical condition.

Deputy director-general of the Sourasky medical center at Tel Aviv Dr. Gil Fire told reporters that the victim, a woman, had "succumbed to her wounds."

Four other people who were hospitalized in serious condition have been stabilized, and they are currently in moderate to serious condition.

Israeli police received reports on a shooting attack outside the Sarona restaurant and retail center in central Tel Aviv, close to the Israeli military's headquarters, at around 9:30 p.m. local time (GMT 1930) on Wednesday.

Two Palestinian attackers, cousins in their twenties from the West Bank village of Yatta near Hebron, started shooting at people sitting in an outdoor area at a café in the complex, police spokeswoman Luba Samri said.

Video footage from the Max Brenner café where the attack started and aired on Israel's Channel 10 news showed scores of people running inside the restaurant while the shooting took place at the outdoor area.

"I sat inside the restaurant and then two people got up and started shooting," a person working at the Max Brenner café, where the shooting took place told the Ynet news website.

"Just before the shooting they ordered food, like everybody else. They had briefcases. Then they just got up and started shooting. They didn't yell anything," he added.

Another eye-witness, Tomer, told Israel Radio many people started running in panic once the shots were fired. "We sat outside and suddenly there was a round of shots. Everybody started frantically running, people yelled at us to get inside the complex. There was great panic. We waited a long while before we realized it was safe to go outside," he said.

Eye witnesses told the Channel 10 news that the two were dressed in suits and wore yarmulkes, assuming the appearance of religious Jews.

A security guard at the scene captured one of the attackers, who was arrested by the Israeli police, while the second one ran several hundred meters away towards a near cinema complex while continuing to shoot as people ran away. He was shot and wounded in serious condition by security guards of the Israel Radio station located there, and is undergoing surgery.

Tel Aviv bureau police chief Chico Edri told reporters at the scene there was no warning prior to the attack.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened an emergency consultation with heads of the Israeli defense establishment at the military headquarters in Tel Aviv, close to the area of the attack, shortly after landing in Israel after a visit in Moscow.

Netanyahu will convene a meeting of the security cabinet, a 10-minister security forum, to discuss possible measures following the attack.

Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said more policemen will be deployed in crowded places in Tel Aviv in the upcoming days, and the Tel Aviv municipality said in a statement it would increase the number of security guards deployed across the city, especially near kindergartens and schools.

The last time a deadly shooting attack took place in Tel Aviv was in January, when 29-year-old Arab Israeli Nashat Milhem shot and killed two Israelis at a Tel Aviv bar, and killed another Arab Israeli taxi driver after fleeing the scene.

Police discovered his whereabouts several days afterwards and Milhem died in a fire exchange with the police.

At least 31 Israelis were killed, including the victims of Wednesday's attacks, in shooting, car-ramming and stabbing attacks performed by Palestinians, since the ongoing wave of violence started in October.

During this period, 205 Palestinians were killed, some in clashes with Israeli security forces during protests in the West Bank, while others were gunned down after trying to or committing attacks against Israelis.

Israel charges the wave of violence is the result of the Palestinian Authority's incitement, whereas the Palestinians charge it is the result of 49 years of Israeli occupation of the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip territories, where they wish to establish a Palestinian state. Endit