Cops launched a manhunt in the area and arrested the suspect a short time later, police said. He was taken in for questioning.

According to Hebrew media reports, the victim had been bludgeoned with a rock, apparently during a mugging in which his phone was stolen. The suspect then tried to sell the stolen phone, Channel 13 reported.

Tel Aviv police chief Haim Sargrof and other top police officials visited the scene following the killing.

Violent street crime is fairly rare in Israel, though residents of working class neighborhoods in southern Tel Aviv have for years complained of rising lawlessness, with some blaming the arrival of thousands of African and Sudanese migrants.