JERUSALEM: Two Palestinian gunmen opened fire at a bus stop on the outskirts of Jerusalem on Monday (Sep 8), killing six people in what police described as “a terrorist attack”, one of the deadliest in the city in the past few years.
Footage from a dashboard camera at the scene in Ramot Junction showed people fleeing from around a bus at the side of a road as shots rang out. Israel Police said the attackers were shot dead at the scene by a soldier and an armed civilian.
“Suddenly I hear the shots starting … I felt like I was running for an eternity,” Ester Lugasi, who was injured in the attack, told Israeli TV from hospital. “I thought I was going to die.”
The ambulance service identified five of the victims as a 50-year-old man, a woman in her fifties and three men in their thirties. It said six others were in serious condition with gunshot wounds. Police said more than 20 people were injured.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said later a sixth person had died and that the gunmen were Palestinians from the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
In a later statement by the Israeli military on Monday, the Chief of the General Staff, Eyal Zamir was quoted as saying that he had ordered a full closure of the area from which the gunmen came.
Spain’s foreign ministry said a Spanish citizen was among those killed and condemned the attack. France, the EU and the United Arab Emirates also issued statements of condemnation.
The shooting took place against the backdrop of nearly two years of war in Gaza, where Israel’s campaign against militant group Hamas has left the territory in devastation. In the West Bank, Palestinians have faced tightened military restrictions and a surge in attacks by Jewish settlers.
