Three dead in West Bank ‘terror’ shooting attack

Gunmen opened fire on a bus and other vehicles near a village in the occupied West Bank, killing three people and wounding seven.

An Israeli soldier directs traffic following a shooting attack in the Palestinian village of Al-Funduq, West Bank. Picture: Getty Images.

Gunmen have opened fire on a bus and other vehicles near a village in the occupied West Bank, killing three people and wounding seven, the Israeli military and emergency services said.

Violence in the West Bank has soared since the war in Gaza erupted on October 7, 2023 after Hamas’s attack on Israel.

“Paramedics have confirmed the deaths of three victims, including two women and a man,” emergency service provider Magen David Adom said.

The military told AFP that all three of the dead held Israeli citizenship, and said troops were “pursuing the terrorists” who carried out the attack near the village of Al-Funduq.

Israeli media reported the three attackers were Palestinians.

Israeli army chief Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi said from the scene of the attack that the army would step-up the ongoing “intense and wide-ranging combat” against armed militancy in the West Bank.

“For the terrorists who carried out this attack, the clock is ticking”, he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to “reach the despicable murderers and hold them, as well as anyone who assisted them, accountable,” a statement from his office said. “No one will be spared.”

Magen David Adom said its paramedics were providing treatment to seven people who were on the bus, including the driver who was in serious condition.

The two women killed in the shooting were in their 60s, while the man was around 40, MDA reported. Army chief Halevi specified the man was a police officer.

“This was a severe attack that spread across multiple scenes where vehicles and a bus were hit by gunfire,” paramedic Avichai Ben Zruya said in a statement.

“During our initial searches for casualties, we found two women around 60 years old in a vehicle, unconscious without pulse or breathing, with gunshot wounds,” he said, adding they were pronounced dead.

The military said troops had set up roadblocks and were encircling several nearby towns to apprehend the attackers.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said he had directed the military to “act with force” to find the attackers.

“We will not tolerate a Gaza-like reality in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank), and anyone who follows Hamas’ path in Gaza and enables or supports the murder and harm of Jews will pay a heavy price,” Katz said on X.

Palestinian militant group Hamas, which is fighting Israeli forces in Gaza, praised the shooting attack in the West Bank.

“The shooting attack … confirms that the resistance in the West Bank will continue despite the occupation’s terrorism and security measures,” Hamas said in a statement.

“The operation is a heroic response to the ongoing crimes and war of extermination committed by the occupation against our people.” Since the Gaza war began, Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 818 Palestinians in the West Bank, according to the Ramallah-based health ministry.

Palestinian attacks on Israelis have also killed at least 25 people in the West Bank in the same period, according to Israeli official figures.

AFP