The images of panicking civilians, ambulances, and security forces emerging from Tel Aviv in the wake of Thursday's terror attack are unnervingly similar to another one that hit the city six years earlier.
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On Jan. 1, 2016, Nashat Milhem – an Israeli Arab resident of a village in the northern area of Wadi Ara – opened fire on innocent civilians at the Simta pub on Dizengoff 122, just 250 meters away from the location of Thursday's attack.
Alon Bakal, the manager of the pub, and Shimon Ruimi, a resident of Ofakim, were killed in the attack. Seven more were injured. Later, as the terrorist fled the scene, he also killed taxi driver Amin Shaban of Lod.
The escape route of both attackers is eerily similar.
But while Ra'ad Hazem, the perpetrator of Thursday's attack, was apprehended shortly after, it took security forces a week to find Milhem. He was hiding in an abandoned building in Ar'ara and was eliminated by a sniper.
Meanwhile, residents worried about a repeated attack and refrained from going out for a week for fear of being targeted.
It was later reported that Milhem worked at a grocery store in Ramat Aviv and had previously served a five-year prison sentence for attempting to snatch the weapon of an IDF soldier.
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