Six people were killed and another eight wounded when Palestinian gunmen opened fire in one of Jerusalem’s deadliest shootings in recent years.
According to Israeli police, “two terrorists arrived in a vehicle” and began shooting at people waiting at a bus stop at Ramot Junction, on the city’s northern edge. An off-duty soldier and an armed civilian returned fire, killing both attackers on the spot.
Israeli media reported that the victims included five men, aged between 25 and 79, and a 60-year-old woman. Hospitals treating the injured confirmed that two people remained in a serious condition.
While no group immediately claimed responsibility, Hamas praised the assault.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, visiting the site of the attack, described Israel as being in “an intense war against terrorism on several fronts.” He said Israeli forces had stopped hundreds of attempted attacks in the West Bank this year but had not been able to prevent this one.
“We are now engaged in pursuit and are sealing off the villages where the terrorists came from,” he told reporters. “We will catch those who helped or sent them, and we will take even tougher measures.”
The Israeli military later said soldiers were surrounding Palestinian villages near Ramallah in the West Bank to “thwart terrorism and strengthen security.”
The shooting erupted at the end of the morning rush hour at Ramot Junction, a busy commuter hub.
Police spokesperson Lt Dean Elsdunne said: “The attackers drove up, deliberately opened fire on civilians waiting at the bus stop, and a number of armed civilians on site responded quickly, killing them both.” He added that several guns, ammunition, and a knife were recovered. Israeli media said the gunmen were believed to be from the nearby villages of al-Qubeiba and Qatanna, about 10km west of the scene.
Dashcam footage released by Israel’s foreign ministry captured chaos as dozens of men, women, and children fled a bus shelter under gunfire. One bus’s windscreen shattered as bullets struck, before armed civilians moved in.
Ester Lugasi, who was injured, recalled from her hospital bed: “Suddenly I heard the shots… I felt like I was running forever. I thought I was going to die.”
Daniel Katzenstein, a medic with United Hatzalah, said he arrived shortly after the shooting and treated a bus driver. “His name was Mohammed,” Katzenstein told My Newspaper. “He also ran to help. This is not a war between Islam and Judaism. It’s between those who want to cause harm and those who just want to live.”
The six victims were named as Yaakov Pinto, 25, Yisrael Matzner, 28, Rabbi Yosef David, 43, Mordechai “Mark” Steinsag, 79, Levi Yitzhak Pash, and Sarah Mendelson, 60.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog wrote on social media: “Innocent citizens, children and adults, were murdered and injured in cold blood on a bus by evil terrorists. This attack shows once again that we are facing absolute evil. The world must understand what we are up against.”
The killings also drew international condemnation. French President Emmanuel Macron said he “strongly condemned the terrorist attack,” while UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said she was “horrified.”
The Palestinian presidency, meanwhile, said it “rejects and condemns the targeting of both Palestinian and Israeli civilians” and denounced “all violence and terrorism regardless of its source,” according to the Wafa news agency.
Hamas, though, hailed the gunmen, calling the assault a “heroic and exceptional operation by two Palestinian resistance fighters.” While not claiming direct responsibility, it said the shooting was a “natural response to the crimes of the occupation [Israel] and the genocide it is committing against our people.”
The incident comes amid a war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, now approaching its second year, triggered by Hamas’s deadly 7 October 2023 assault on southern Israel. Since then, security has been extremely tight in Israel and the West Bank, and large-scale shootings in Jerusalem have been relatively rare.
The last similar incident was in November 2023, when two Hamas gunmen killed three Israelis at a bus stop in West Jerusalem.
Monday’s attack also comes at a highly sensitive moment, as Israel intensifies its offensive in Gaza City while simultaneously weighing new U.S.-backed proposals for a ceasefire and hostage-release deal with Hamas.
