DEADLY JERUSALEM BUS STOP SHOOTING: 6 KILLED, 12 INJURED IN TERROR ATTACK
GREATRIBUNETVNEWS–A devastating shooting attack occurred at a busy bus stop in Jerusalem’s Ramot Junction on Monday, September 8, resulting in the deaths of at least six people and injuring 12 others. The attackers, two Palestinian gunmen from the West Bank, arrived at the scene in a vehicle carrying weapons, ammunition, and a knife, and opened fire on dozens of people waiting near buses.
Attack Details:
– Victims: Six people were killed, including a maintenance worker at the Kol Torah Yeshiva in Jerusalem, and three men in their thirties.
– Injuries:12 people were injured, with seven in serious condition, and were rushed to Shaare Zedek and Hadassah hospitals.
– Attackers:The two gunmen were shot dead by a soldier and an armed civilian who responded swiftly to the attack.
Response and Condemnation:
– Prime Minister’s Response:Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed a strong response to the attack, saying Israel is “waging a tough multi-front war against terrorism”.
– International Reaction: Western governments, including the US, have condemned the attack and reiterated support for Israel’s right to defend itself.
– *Palestinian Militant Groups:* Hamas and Islamic Jihad praised the attack, calling the gunmen “resistance fighters”, but did not claim direct responsibility
“I saw people falling or getting hurt while trying to escape,” eyewitness Elazar Toledano told Reuters. Toledano said it took people a few seconds to understand what was happening after the first burst of gunfire. “Someone suddenly shouted ‘Terror attack!’ and people started running.”
The suspected attackers were killed by an Israeli combat soldier and a civilian at the site, prompting calls by far-right ministers for the arming of more civilians in Israel. Police identified the gunmen as Muthanna Omar, 20, and Muhammad Taha, 21, who are both from villages just outside Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank.
One Spanish national was among the six killed, according to the Spanish Foreign Ministry. Twenty people were injured, according to Israel police.
Ramot Junction
Israeli special forces, ambulances and rescue workers rushed to the attack site where bloodstained pavements were littered with shattered glass from bus windows damaged in the shooting.
“When I first came to the area I saw a lot of people laying down in the street bleeding,” Fadi Dekaidek, one of the paramedics for Israel’s emergency services Magen David Adom, told CNN.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the area after holding a “situational assessment” with his heads of security, where he announced measures against Palestinian villages.
“We are pursuing and encircling the villages from which the murderers came. We will reach everyone who helped them and who sent them – and we will take even harsher measures,” Netanyahu said.
Itamar Ben Gvir, the country’s national security minister and a far-right member of Netanyahu’s cabinet, called on Israelis to “arm” themselves and Defense Minister Israel Katz warned of the “most severe and far-reaching consequences” to the attack.
Several weapons, ammunition, and a knife used by the attackers were recovered from the scene, Israeli police said.
Several weapons, ammunition, and a knife used by the attackers were recovered from the scene, Israeli police said. Mahmoud Illean/AP
The shooting marks the deadliest attack in the city in more than two years, when a Palestinian man opened fire killing seven people near a synagogue in January 2023. Ten months later, in November 2023, two Hamas militants killed three people in a shooting at a Jerusalem bus stop during a temporary ceasefire in Gaza. A fourth person was killed when an Israeli reservist shot a civilian who had responded to the attack.
In October 2024, two Hamas militants opened fire on a popular boulevard in southern Tel Aviv, killing seven people.
Hamas did not take responsibility for Monday’s shooting but issued a statement welcoming the attack.
The attack and its aftermath could heighten tensions in a city already on edge amid Israeli annexation plans and the ongoing deadly conflict with Hamas in Gaza.
Last week, a security assessment presented to Israeli ministers in a meeting with Netanyahu warned of the potential of a flare-up in the occupied West Bank in the coming weeks, two Israeli officials briefed on the discussion told CNN.
The junction where Monday’s attack took place sits on the green line, which separates Israel from occupied territory in the West Bank. The road leads to Ramot, an area considered a settlement under international law but which Israel annexed into the city of Jerusalem.
One Israeli security official said the combination of looming Palestinian statehood developments, and Israeli declarations about possible West Bank annexation, “could lead to a serious escalation of the security situation in the West Bank.”
The Palestinian Authority – who envision a future in governing Gaza after the war – issued a statement denouncing all forms of violence and terrorism, regardless of their source” and rejecting “any targeting of Palestinian and Israeli civilians.”
SOURCE ==CNN==EXCEPT THE HEADLINE AND INTRO PLUS FEW PARAGRAPHS
About the Author
