One was planning her wedding, a second was a devoted mother, a third was a respected university professor, while a fourth was an executive at Coca-Cola.

On Wednesday, the four were shot dead at random by two Palestinian attackers in the Israeli commercial capital Tel Aviv and are due to be buried in the coming days.

- Mila Mishayev, 32, of Ashdod south of Tel Aviv, was due to be married in the coming months. She was waiting for her future husband at Max Brenner cafe when she was hit by a bullet in the leg and bled to death.

Previously, the Israeli media reported, she phoned her boyfriend to talk to him for what would be the final time.

- Michael Feige, 58, was a sociologist and anthropologist professor at Ben Gurion University in Beersheva, as well as a father to three daughters.

A former colleague described him as "very tolerant" and "a peace-seeking person in all aspects of life."

Feige devoted his academic life to researching the radicalisation of Israeli settlers in the West Bank, for which he won a top academic award in 2010.

"I never saw any sympathy on (the settlers') part when the homes of Arabs were bombed or when the peace camp felt terrible distress during the war in Lebanon," he told the Haaretz daily newspaper in 2005.

- Ido Ben-Arie, 42, an executive at Coca-Cola in Israel and a reservist in an elite unit of the Israeli army, was a charming joker, relatives said.

Living in the suburbs of Tel Aviv, he was dining with his two children when he was killed. His wife was also wounded.

- Ilana Nave, 39, was a married mother of four girls to whom she "was devoted," a neighbour in Tel Aviv said, quoted by the Ynet news website. She celebrated her birthday shortly before her death, according to Ynet.

Source: AFP