Gun attack on bus carrying Israelis in occupied West Bank kills three
6 January 2025, 13:34
The incident took place near the Palestinian village of Al-Funduq.
A gun attack on a bus carrying Israelis in the occupied West Bank has killed at least three people.
Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service said at least seven others were injured in the attack on Monday.
Violence has surged in the West Bank since Hamas’ attack out of Gaza in October 2023 ignited the ongoing war there.
The attack occurred in the Palestinian village of Al-Funduq, on one of the main east-west roads crossing the territory.
Rescuers said two women in their 60s and a man in his 40s died, and the military is looking for the attackers.
רעייתי ואני שולחים תנחומים מעומק הלב למשפחות שלושת הנרצחים מהפיגוע הנורא הבוקר, ומאחלים איחולי החלמה מלאה לנפגעים.
נגיע למרצחים הנתעבים ונבוא חשבון איתם ועם כל מי שסייע להם. אף אחד לא ינקה.
— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) January 6, 2025
The Palestinian Health Ministry says at least 838 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank since the start of the war in Gaza.
Most appear to have been militants killed in battles with Israeli troops, but the dead also include participants in violent protests and civilian bystanders.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to “reach the despicable murderers” behind Monday’s attack and “settle accounts with them and with everyone who assisted them. No one will be spared”.
Hamas praised the attack in a statement but did not claim responsibility for it.
Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Middle East war, and the Palestinians want it to form the main part of their future state.
Some three million Palestinians live in the West Bank under seemingly open-ended Israeli military rule, with the Palestinian Authority administering population centres.
“In #Gaza , since the war began, UNRWA has become a lifeline for 2 million people.
🔹Our health teams provided 6.7 million medical consultations (over 1,600/ day)
🔹730,000 people received mental health and psychosocial support
🔹With partners, we vaccinated 560,000 children… pic.twitter.com/8SVUH7Ij4U
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) January 6, 2025
More than 500,000 Israeli settlers live in scores of settlements, which most of the international community considers illegal.
Meanwhile, the war in Gaza is raging with no end in sight, though there has reportedly been recent progress in long-running talks aimed at a ceasefire and hostage release.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed across the border in a massive surprise attack nearly 15 months ago, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250. Some 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead.
Israel’s air and ground offensive has killed more than 45,800 Palestinians in Gaza, according to local health authorities, who say women and children make up more than half of those killed. They do not say how many of the dead were militants.
The Israeli military says it has killed around 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence.
