TEL AVIV — A gunman whom relatives identified as an Arab citizen of Israel opened fire in the center of Tel Aviv on Friday, killing two Israeli Jews at a crowded bar and wounding at least five others. The assault created mayhem along a busy street and led to an intense manhunt by the authorities. The suspect was still at large late Friday.

The assault was carried out in broad daylight on Dizengoff Street, one of the city’s main commercial arteries, and it immediately raised fears of a new type of violence in an already volatile atmosphere.

The attack took place against the backdrop of a recent wave of assaults mostly carried out by Palestinians from the West Bank or East Jerusalem using knives, cars, and, in a few cases, guns. In footage from security cameras, the gunman was seen stepping out of a health food store, calmly aiming and shooting along the street with some kind of submachine gun.

But the authorities were cautious about labeling the shooting a terrorist attack. Hours after the assault the minister of public security, Gilad Erdan, said on Israeli television that it was still unclear whether the motive for the attack was political, terrorist or criminal in nature.