Jerusalem - A masked man opened fired on crowd in front of a gay community centre in Tel Aviv Saturday, killing a man and a woman and wounding at least 10 other people, Israeli emergency services said.
The gunman, who was dressed in black, unloaded an automatic weapon on the young group of gays and lesbians at the entrance of the centre, located in the heart of Tel Aviv, and then ran away, witnesses said.
The assailant then tried to attack a nearby gay bar but was blocked by guards, witnesses said.
Tel Aviv Police Chief Shahar Ayalon ordered the closure of all gay bars in the city as a precaution and urged such establishments to remain vigilant.
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"We are only at the first stage of the investigation, we continue our search and we are not sure of the motive of this attack since the centre has not received any threats recently," Ayalon said.
Representatives of the gay community believe it was a homophobic attack.
"It is not surprising that such a crime can be committed given the incitement of hatred against the homosexual community," the president of Tel Aviv's gay and lesbian community, Mai Pelem, told reporters.
Pelem was referring to verbal attacks against gays from the religious community.
The head of Israel's gay and lesbian national association, Mike Hamel, added: "In our worst nightmares we could not have imagined that the hatred against our community, which is hurting nobody, could go this far."
If the motive is confirmed, it would be the worst homophobic attack against Israel's gay and lesbian community.
In 2005, an ultra-Orthodox Jew stabbed three participants of the gay pride parade. He was later sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Israel is widely seen as having liberal gay rights policies, despite the hostility homosexuals, particularly men, encounter from the ultra-orthodox Jewish community.
Israel repealed a ban on consensual same-sex sexual acts in 1988.
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