Palestinian gunmen shoot dead 5 people in east Jerusalem

Palestinian gunmen shoot dead 5 people in east Jerusalem | Daily Tribune

JERUSALEM (AFP) — Palestinian gunmen opened fire at a bus stop in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem on Monday, killing five people and wounding several others.

Israeli emergency service Magen David Adom (MDA) said there were five victims dead in the shooting attack, updating an earlier toll of four. Police said the two gunmen were also killed.

MDA said seven other people were in serious condition.

The dead included a man “about 50 years old and three men aged around 30,” a statement from MDA said, adding it was providing medical treatment to several of the injured.

The late morning attack took place at the Ramot Junction on Yigal Street, and left about 15 people wounded, an earlier statement by MDA said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was holding a meeting to assess the situation after the shooting, his office said.

Palestinian militant group Hamas, which has been at war with Israel in Gaza for nearly two years, praised the attack, saying it was carried out by two Palestinian militants.

“We affirm that this operation is a natural response to the crimes of the occupation and the genocide it is waging against our people,” Hamas said in a statement.

Paramedic Fadi Dekaidek, who was at the scene, said the attack was “severe.”

“The wounded were lying on the road and sidewalk near a bus stop, some of them unconscious,” he said in a statement issued by MDA.

Police said the attackers had opened fire towards a bus stop after arriving in a vehicle.

“A security officer and a civilian at the scene responded immediately, returned fire, and neutralized the attackers,” they said in a statement.

Speaking on Israel’s Channel 12, a police spokesperson said there were two assailants involved, with the force later confirming both were pronounced dead at the scene.

The shooting was one of the deadliest incidents of its kind since the war in Gaza began after Hamas’ October 2023 attack on Israel.

The Hamas attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an Agence France-Presse tally based on Israeli figures.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed at least 64,368 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza that the United Nations considers reliable.