Jerusalem: At least three Israelis were killed and six others injured when Palestinian gunmen opened fire at a bus stop here, breaking an uneasy peace in the city since the outbreak of the current round of violence in the region.
“At around 7:40 am (local time) two Palestinian gunmen got out of a vehicle on Weizman Street at the main entrance to the capital and opened fire at people at a bus stop”, the police here said.
Three persons were killed and six wounded, two of them seriously, in a terror shooting attack at the entrance to the city, police and medics said.
Two off-duty soldiers and an armed civilian in the area are said to have returned fire, killing the two terrorists.
Videos circulating on social media platforms show a handful of people waiting at the bus stop starting to run away in different directions as the two gunmen start firing indiscriminately.
Israel’s internal security agency, Shin Bet, named the two attackers as brothers Murad Namr, 38, and Ibrahim Namr, 30, from East Jerusalem.
“The pair were Hamas members and previously jailed for terror activity”, the agency said.
Murad was jailed between 2010 and 2020 for planning terror attacks under directions of terror elements in the Gaza Strip and Ibrahim was jailed in 2014 for undisclosed terror activity, it said.
Footage showed that the two were armed with an M-16 assault rifle and a handgun.
A police search of the vehicle found large amounts of ammunition. Police were searching the area to rule out any additional attackers.
Medics with Magen David Adom ambulance service that reached the site of the attack declared a 24-year-old woman dead at the scene, while an elderly man and a woman among the eight others injured were declared dead at the hospital.
Two of the wounded were listed in serious condition.
The bus stop was the scene of a deadly bomb attack almost exactly a year ago. Thursday’s attack came shortly after Israel and Hamas agreed to extend the ceasefire for a seventh day.
“The War Cabinet unanimously decided last night that if a list, as was agreed upon in the outline, were not delivered by 07:00 this morning (Thursday, 30 November 2023), fighting would resume at once” an announcement from the Israeli PMO said in the morning as people anxiously waited to hear on the fate of the fragile ceasefire for exchange of Israeli hostages against Palestinian prisoners.
“A list of women and children – in accordance with the terms of the outline – was delivered to Israel a short time ago; therefore, the pause will continue”, it added.
In a press release, the PMO said, “Pursuant to receiving the list of hostages slated to be released today (November 30), the families have been notified”.
Jerusalem has been relatively quiet since the outbreak of the recent round of violence and no major skirmishes have been reported despite several calls by Hamas to Palestinians in Jerusalem to support them.
PTI