Six Israelis Killed, 13 Hurt In Jerusalem Bus Stop Attack
Ramot junction, where the attack occurred, is located on West Bank land which Israel designates as part of Jerusalem’s municipal jurisdiction.
Israeli police and medics say six people were killed and 13 wounded when gunmen from the Palestinian West Bank opened fire at a Jerusalem bus stop.
Seven of the wounded were severely hurt, according to Ori Shochat of Israel’s emergency service Magen David Adom. The attack came as Israeli-Palestinian tensions surge over the almost two-year-old war in the Gaza Strip and plans to press for a Palestinian state opposed by Israel.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Monday’s shooting, which police said was carried out by two men who arrived in a car. Hamas, which Israel is fighting in Gaza and is designated a terror group by the US and others, praised the attack and called for more. The gunmen were shot dead by an Israeli security force member and an armed religious student.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu conducted a situation assessment with the security establishment, his office said. He then went to the scene and said, “We are now pursuing and surrounding the villages from which the murderers came. We will get everyone who helped them, everyone who sent them, and we will take even tougher measures.”
He described the assault as part of a broad war against Israel, including from Gaza and Lebanon. The Gaza war began after thousands of Hamas operatives crossed into Israel, killing 1,200 and abducting 250. The war has killed 64,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, on a visit to Hungary, said the perpetrators came from the part of the West Bank run by the Palestinian Authority. Growing efforts to establish a Palestinian state — they are expected to dominate the opening session of the United Nations General Assembly this month — are, in effect, efforts to set up a state aimed at the elimination of Israel, he said. He vowed that those efforts would fail.
Ramot junction, where the attack occurred, is located on West Bank land which Israel designates as part of Jerusalem’s municipal jurisdiction. Israel captured the land in the 1967 Six-Day War. Those advocating for a Palestinian state want that land handed over to Palestinians or traded for other land. Israel says that will never happen.
