Gun attack on school bus in West Bank wounds 3: army
(FILES) Members of Israeli security forces and emergency services inspect the site of a reported attack on an Israeli bus, east of Tubas village in the north of the occupied West Bank, on 4 September 2022. Palestinian and Arab-Israeli gunmen wounded six Israeli soldiers and a civilian on 4 September when they sprayed bullets at a bus in the occupied West Bank, the army said. The attack in the Jordan Valley, near the city of Tubas, extends a recent spate of violence in the West Bank and follows a shooting spree last month targeting an Israeli bus in annexed east Jerusalem.
AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP
Medics and the army said three people including a boy were wounded in a gun attack Thursday that targeted a school bus near the city of Jericho in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
After reports that a militant fired toward "a number of vehicles", soldiers were sent to the scene near the town of Al-Auja, the military said, adding that soldiers were pursuing the suspect.
The military confirmed a school bus had been targeted.
A 30-year-old man was in serious condition with gunshot wounds, while a 21-year-old man was less seriously wounded and a 13-year-old boy suffered shrapnel injuries, emergency services said.
Israeli public radio said the masked gunman started shooting at Israeli cars at around 7:00 am local time, hitting a car and a school bus.
Violence has surged in the West Bank since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip in October. The war began with Hamas's unprecedented attack against Israel on 7 October that left about 1,160 people dead.
More than 440 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops or settlers in the West Bank since the war broke out, according to the Palestinian Authority, which has partial administrative control in the West Bank.
At least 17 Israeli soldiers and civilians have been killed in attacks there over the same period, say the Israeli authorities.