Five people are dead and at least eight others have been wounded after gunmen - alleged to be brothers and Hamas members - opened fire at a bus stop in Jerusalem, police have said.
Israeli Police said the attackers shot at people standing along a main highway at the entrance to the holy city on Thursday. A 24-year-old woman, a man understood to be in his 70s and an elderly woman were killed and four more are seriously injured, according to Magen David Adom, Israel’s national emergency medical, disaster, ambulance and blood bank service. Two gunmen were also killed, police confirmed.
Five seriously injured patients have been taken to Shaare Zedek hospital, though two have since died, with three others taken to Hadassah Ein Kerem. Two victims in critical condition were being treated at the scene. Reports suggest the two gunmen were Palestinian. There are unconfirmed reports of several scenes of attack.
CCTV footage shows the horrifying moment the two gunmen get out of a white car parked alongside the bus stop and begin firing on those waiting. People begin to flee as the bullets are sprayed before the men retreat to the car where they are themselves gunned down.
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Police say the two shooters were “neutralised” by security forces and an armed civilian. According to police, the pair got out of a car at around 7.40am local time and began to open fire. The attackers’ identities are not immediately given, but some Hebrew media reports say they are from East Jerusalem. Officers are scanning the area to rule out any additional attackers.
A photo from the scene show a large automatic rifle and handgun on the ground. US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew has condemned the “abhorrent terrorist attack”, calling it “brutal.” “My thoughts are with the families of the victims and I offer my sincere condolences to all those affected,” he said on X.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Israel is “at war on all fronts” in response to the shooting. The incident took place shortly after the ceasefire with Hamas was extended for a seventh day. “The terrible attack in Jerusalem reminds us that our enemies are not only the Nazis in Gaza. We will pursue and destroy them, with God’s help, everywhere,” Smotrich wrote on X, saying Israel is going for “total victory on all fronts”.
The Times of Israel reports, according to the Shin Bet security agency, the two gunmen are Hamas members, and were previously jailed for terror activity. They are named as brothers Murad Namr, 38, and Ibrahim Namr, 30, from the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sur Baher.
Murad was jailed from 2010 to 2020 for planning terror attacks under the direction of terror elements in the Gaza Strip, according to the Shin Bet. Ibrahim was jailed in 2014 for undisclosed terror activity, the agency says.