At least six people have been killed and 12 people injured in a shooting at a busy intersection on the outskirts of Jerusalem, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said.
Two attackers opened fire around 10.15am local time at people waiting at a bus stop near Ramot Junction at the northern entrance to the city on a road leading to Jewish settlements in eastern Jerusalem, police said.
Paramedics described a chaotic scene, with victims lying wounded and unconscious on the road and pavement.
Footage from the scene showed dozens of people fleeing from a bus stop during morning rush hour and heavy police presence in the Ramot area following the shooting.
A 50-year-old man and three men in their 30s were among the people that died, Israel’s paramedic service Magen David Adom said. A woman in her 50s was pronounced dead after being taken to a hospital in critical condition.
Seven people were in serious condition with gunshot wounds and several others were “lightly injured by glass”, Magen David Adom said. A pregnant woman was amongst those injured, Mr Saar said.
Israeli police said two “terrorists” were killed swiftly after the shooting began. It is not yet clear who the perpetrators were or what their motive was.
A security officer and a civilian who were at the scene shot and killed the attackers, police said.
Officers at the scene recovered weapons used by the attackers, including ammunition and a knife, police added.
The IDF said its soldiers are also searching the scene for suspects and encircling several areas on the outskirts of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank “to thwart terrorism and strengthen the defence effort”.
The junction is located in a part of Jerusalem that Israel captured in the 1967 war and later annexed in a move that the United Nations and most countries do not recognise.
In a statement, Hamas said: “We affirm that this operation is a natural response to the occupation’s crimes and war of extermination it is waging against our people.” It did not claim the attack.
The attack came after Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said that a “powerful hurricane” would strike Gaza City.
“This is a final warning to the murderers and rapists of Hamas in Gaza and in luxury hotels abroad: Release the hostages and lay down your weapons—or Gaza will be destroyed, and you will be annihilated,” he wrote on X.
“The IDF continues as planned—and is preparing to expand the manoeuvre to decisively defeat Gaza.”
The Prime Minister’s office said in a post on X that Benjamin Netanyahu is taking a “a situation assessment” with security heads.
The war in Gaza has sparked a surge in both settler violence and Palestinian militant violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Israel.
In October 2024, two Palestinians from the West Bank opened fire on a major boulevard and light rail station in the Tel Aviv area, killing seven people and leaving many others wounded. Hamas' military wing claimed responsibility for the attack.
