Site of deadly Tel Aviv shooting reopens, solemnly

The Tel Aviv bar where two people were killed Friday in a shooting reopened on Wednesday evening.

No music was playing at the Simta bar as the first costumers, including Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai, entered the site of the deadly New Year’s day shooting.

A memorial ceremony for the victims, Alon Bakal, 26, and Shimon Ruimi, 30, who were killed by a gunman who calmly opened fire with a sub-machine gun outside Simta, took place later on Wednesday evening.

“The pain and trauma that we bear in our hearts is part of daily life in this country,” Huldai said according to the Maariv website. The mayor said he came to encourage and support Simta’s staff and patrons.

“We’ve had similar incidents like this in the past, and this time we’ll also overcome this,” he said before praising the residents of Tel Aviv for their resilience.

“We will continue to live,” he added.

One of the owners of the establishment, Dean Reichel, told Channel 2 he and his partner deliberated when they should reopen the bar, whether to wait until the end of the traditional Jewish week of mourning for one of the co-owners killed in the attack, or quickly get back into business.

“The aim is to hug each other and come together, because that is what we’ve done until now,” one of the bar owners said, according to Maariv.

Dozens of neighbors and passers-by also arrived at Simta to pay tribute to the victims.

On Friday afternoon, 29-year-old Nashat Milhem allegedly opened fire outside the bar with a sub machine gun before fleeing and disappearing. Police on Wednesday evening also officially named Milhem as the killer of Bedouin taxi driver Amin Shaaban some 60 minutes after the Simta attack.

File: Memorial candles spell out the names of victims Alon Bakal and Shimon Ruimi, outside the Simta pub on Dizengoff Street in central Tel Aviv, on January 02. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

Since the attacks, Milhem, from the northern town of Arara, has remained at large. Authorities have warned he is armed, dangerous and capable of striking again.

On Wednesday, Channel 2 reported that Israeli security officials increasingly believe Nashat Milhem may be in the West Bank, although details of the search for him remain under a gag order.

Bakal was the manager of Simta. Ruimi, a resident of the southern town of Ofakim, was killed as he joined friends for a birthday celebration at Simta. Seven others were injured in the attack.