An Arab man was shot to death by police officers in southern Tel Aviv early on Thursday morning after he pulled a gun at them, Haaretz reported.

The background to the incident appears to be criminal, according to police.

Police said that officers were carrying out an anti-drug operation overnight in southern Tel Aviv. 

Around midnight, the officers encountered four young men at the city's Rishon Letzion Street. When the officers asked them to identify themselves, police said, one of the men pulled out a gun and pointed it at them while he tried to flee the scene. The officers shot and wounded him.

The wounded man was treated at the site while a search was conducted after the other suspects who fled the scene. The wounded man was taken to Ichilov Hospital in the city, where he was pronounced dead.

Source ; MENA