Tel Aviv's police commander cites political intervention by members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Cabinet whom he says wanted excessive force used against anti-government protesters.

The operation, which the army said was aimed at destroying infrastructure and weapons of militant groups in the camp, was launched with a drone strike in the early hours and continued all day, with hundreds of troops.

It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the shooting, which came with Israeli security forces already on high alert.

The normalisation of relations has been deplored by the Palestinians, who want their demands for statehood free of Israeli occupation addressed first.