Israeli forces shot dead an American man who opened fire in a seaside hotel packed with tourists on Friday, killing one person.
The Friday incident at the lobby of Leonardo Club Hotel took place after an Israeli armed guard tried to intervene in an intense argument between the American and a hotel employee.
The US tourist then grabbed the guard’s gun and fired several shots, killing the hotel staffer.
The shooter has been described as “in his twenties” and part of an Israeli-American exchange program that is regularly sponsored by various pro-Israeli organizations across the US.
No other deaths or injuries have yet been reported, although some hotel guests and employees were reported to be suffering from psychological distress, requiring hospitalization.
Reports indicate that the shooter barricaded himself in the hotel’s kitchen after killing the employee and was shot dead by the police forces following what has been described as failed negotiations for his surrender.
The man barricaded himself in the hotel kitchen, shooting back at law enforcement officers. He was shot dead by members of a military counter-terrorism squad, a military source said.
An Israeli hotel guest, Aviram Sela, said he tried to wrestle the gunman to the ground before he started shooting, as terrified tourists dived for cover behind a sofa in the hotel lobby.
“We saw him beating the guard and grab his weapon and the magazine,” Sela told Israeli television, adding that the gunman then took aim at a member of his family.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak told Army Radio the incident “appears to be an internal dispute”.
Eilat, on the border with Egypt and Jordan, has been a target of militant attacks in the past, and has come under rocket fire from Egypt’s Sinai in the past several months. The city is currently crowded with both foreign tourists and Israelis on a seven-day Jewish religious holiday.