Six killed, others injured in Jerusalem shooting

Six people have been killed and six others seriously wounded in an attack by Palestinian gunmen in Jerusalem, paramedics and police say.

Israeli police said two "terrorists" arrived in a vehicle and opened fire towards a bus stop at Ramot Junction, on the city's northern outskirts. A soldier and a civilian returned fire, and "neutralised" the attackers, it added.

Israel's Magen David Adom ambulance service said the dead included three men in their 30s, one woman in her 50s, and one man in his 50s. Eight people are being treated for gunshot wounds at local hospitals.

There was no immediate claim from any armed groups, although Hamas praised the attack.

During a visit to the scene, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was in a "intense war against terror on several fronts".

"A pursuit and encirclement of the villages from which the terrorists came is under way," he said.

The Israeli military said soldiers were surrounding several areas on the outskirts of the city of Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, to "thwart terrorism and strengthen the defence effort".

Monday's attack took place towards the end of the morning rush hour while many people were waiting for buses at the busy Ramot Junction.

Israel police spokesman Lt Dean Elsdunne said units had recovered "several weapons, ammunition and a knife used by the terrorists".

"We're working to identify anyone and everyone who planned, supported or had knowledge of this attack," he said.

Israeli media reported that the gunmen were believed to have set out from the Palestinian villages of al-Qubeiba and Qatanna, on the outskirts of Ramallah, about 10km (6 miles) west of Ramot Junction.

Dashcam video shared by the Israeli foreign ministry showed dozens of men, women and children running from a bus shelter and a stationary bus as the sound of gunfire rings out.

The front windscreen of a second bus behind shatters as the gunfire continues, before what appear to be armed civilians approach the scene.

"Suddenly I hear the shots starting... I felt like I was running for an eternity," Ester Lugasi, one of the injured, told Israeli TV from hospital. "I thought I was going to die."

Daniel Katzenstein, a first responder with the United Hatzalah emergency medical service, arrived shortly after the attack and treated one of the bus drivers at the scene.

"His name was Mohammed," Mr Katzenstein told the BBC. "He also ran to help. This is not a battle of Islam versus Judaism, this is a battle between the people who wish to do harm, and the people who want to live life."

In a statement posted on social media, Israeli President Isaac Herzog said: "Innocent citizens, children and adults, were murdered and injured in cold blood on a bus in the streets of a city at the hands of evil terrorists.

"The shocking attack reminds us time and again that we are fighting absolute evil," he added. "The world must understand what we are facing."

French President Emmanuel Macron said he "strongly condemned the terrorist attack", while German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said he was "deeply shocked by the cowardly terrorist attack".

Hamas praised what it called the "heroic and exceptional operation by two Palestinian resistance fighters".

Without admitting it had organised the attack, Hamas said it was a "natural response to the crimes of the occupation [Israel] and the genocide it is waging against our people".

The group has been fighting a war with Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip for almost two years, triggered by its attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023.

Israeli security forces have been on high alert in Israel and the West Bank since then, and there have been relatively few attacks of this kind in the Jerusalem area.

In November 2023, three Israelis were killed when two Palestinian gunmen opened fire at a bus stop in West Jerusalem in an attack that was claimed by Hamas.