TEL AVIV, Israel • At least two people were killed and several wounded in a shooting in a crowded central Tel Aviv bar and restaurant district on Thursday night, Israeli medics said.

The motive for the shooting was not immediately clear, but it came amid heightened tensions following a series of deadly attacks carried out by Palestinians. The militant Hamas group ruling Gaza praised the attack but did not claim responsibility.

Live footage from Israel’s Kan broadcaster showed police flooding the area and training their guns on the upper story of a building. It also showed an explosion of some kind.

Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency service said it received reports of a shooting at “several scenes” around downtown Tel Aviv.

It said it had evacuated six people to the nearby Ichilov hospital. The hospital said two people had died and that it was treating eight who were wounded.

At least one shooting took place on Dizengoff Street, a central thoroughfare. Police urged people to avoid the area.

Dizengoff Street has been the scene of several deadly attacks over the years.

Most recently, an Arab citizen of Israel shot and killed two Israelis and wounded several others on the street in January 2016.

The popular nightlife area was packed on Thursday evening, the beginning of the Israeli weekend.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett was monitoring the situation from the Israeli military headquarters, which is also in downtown Tel Aviv, his office said.

Tensions have been high after a series of attacks by Palestinian assailants killed 11 people just ahead of the holy Islamic month of Ramadan, which began nearly a week ago. Last year, protests and clashes in Jerusalem during Ramadan ignited an 11-day Gaza war.

Israeli, Jordanian and Palestinian leaders have held a flurry of meetings in recent weeks, and Israel has taken a number of steps aimed at calming tensions, including issuing thousands of additional work permits for Palestinians from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

A woman reacts at the scene of Thursday’s deadly shooting attack In Tel Aviv, Israel.