Three Israelis have been killed and eight wounded in a Palestinian shooting attack on a bus and other vehicles in the north of the occupied West Bank, the Israeli military and paramedics say.
The Magen David Adom ambulance service identified the dead as two women in their 60s and a man in his 40s. The driver of the bus was seriously wounded.
The Israeli military said “terrorists” opened fire at the vehicles near the village of al-Funduq, located on Highway 55, and then fled the scene.
Israeli media cited a military official as saying the attackers were two Palestinians and that security forces were pursuing them, setting up roadblocks and encircling several towns in the area.
Magen David Adom paramedic Avichai Ben Tzurya described it as “a very serious attack spread across the road involving multiple vehicles”.
“We conducted quick searches and identified two females and a male in private cars without a pulse, suffering from severe gunshot wounds. We had no choice but to pronounce them dead at the scene,” he said in a statement.
“Inside the bus, we treated victims of gunshots and shattered glass injuries, including the bus driver – who was conscious and suffering from gunshot wounds – as well as additional victims in mild to moderate condition.”
The wounded were evacuated to two hospitals in central Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to bring to justice what he called the “abhorrent murderers” along with anyone who aided them.
“No-one will get away,” he wrote on X.
There was no immediate claim from Palestinian armed groups, although Hamas praised the attack as a “heroic response against [Israel’s] continued crimes”, including the war in Gaza.
Hundreds of Palestinians and dozens of Israelis have been killed in a surge in violence in the West Bank since the start of the war, which was triggered by Hamas’s deadly attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023.
On Sunday, the Palestinian health ministry said that two Palestinians – a 17-year-old boy and a 40-year-old man – were killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank.
The teenager was shot dead during an Israeli raid in Askar refugee camp near the city of Nablus, which is 10km (6 miles) east of al-Funduq, it said.
The Israeli military said its troops fired on people who had hurled explosives at them in the Nablus area, according to Reuters news agency. It added that “a hit was identified” and that the incident was under review.
The man was killed in the town of Meithalun, 21km north-east of al-Funduq, where the Israeli military said Border Police officers killed an armed suspect during a wider operation in which 19 other people were arrested.
