Palestinian gunmen kill six at Jerusalem bus stop
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JERUSALEM – Two Palestinian gunmen opened fire at a bus stop on the outskirts of Jerusalem on Sept 8, killing six people in what the police described as “a terrorist attack”, one of the deadliest in recent years.
Footage from a dashboard camera at the scene showed people fleeing from the vicinity of a bus stopped by the side of a road as shots rang out.
Israel Police said the attackers were shot dead at the scene by a soldier and an armed civilian.
“Suddenly, I heard the shots starting... I felt like I was running for an eternity,” Ms Ester Lugasi, who was injured in the attack, told Israeli TV from hospital.
“I thought I was going to die.”
The ambulance service identified five of the victims who died as a 50-year-old man, a woman in her 50s and three men in their 30s.
It said six others were in serious condition with gunshot wounds. The police said more than 20 people were injured.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said later that a sixth person had died and that the gunmen were Palestinians from the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Spain’s Foreign Ministry said a Spanish citizen was among those killed and condemned the attack.
France, the European Union and the United Arab Emirates also issued statements of condemnation.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas issued a statement which condemned “any targeting of Palestinian and Israeli civilians”.
But Hamas praised two Palestinian “resistance fighters” it said had carried out the attack. Islamic Jihad, another Palestinian militant group, also praised the shooting.
Neither group claimed responsibility.
Speaking at the scene of the attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli forces were pursuing suspects who aided the attackers.
Israeli police said two attackers arrived by car and opened fire at a bus stop at Ramot Junction.
Several weapons and ammunition used by the attackers were recovered at the scene, the police said.
Reuters footage showed a heavy police presence in the Ramot area following the shooting. The ambulance service said a paramedic arriving at the scene reported that several victims were lying on the road and pavement, some unconscious.
The Israeli military said it had deployed soldiers to the area and was aiding the police in the search for suspects. Soldiers were also operating in areas of Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank to conduct interrogations and “thwart terrorism”, it added.
In October 2024, two Palestinians, one with a gun and the other with a knife, killed seven people in Tel Aviv
In November 2023, two Palestinian gunmen killed three people at a Jerusalem bus stop. Israeli security services said the attackers in the 2023 Jerusalem shooting were linked to Hamas. REUTERS
