Three Israelis were killed and eight others injured in a Palestinian shooting targeting a bus and two cars in northern occupied West Bank, according to Israeli military and paramedic reports.
The Israeli military stated that the attack was carried out by “terrorists” who fired on vehicles near the village of al-Funduq along Highway 55 before fleeing the scene. Media reports indicated that at least two Palestinian gunmen were responsible. Security forces initiated a manhunt, establishing roadblocks and sealing off nearby towns.
The victims were identified as two women in their 70s and a 35-year-old police officer. The bus driver sustained severe injuries.
Avichai Ben Tzurya, a paramedic with Magen David Adom, described the incident as a grave attack involving multiple vehicles. He recounted discovering three individuals in cars, lifeless and with fatal gunshot wounds. Those injured were transported to hospitals in central Israel for treatment.
The deceased women, later identified as Aliza Reiz and Rachel Cohen, were residents of the West Bank settlement Kedumim and were travelling together. Master Sergeant Elad Yaakov Winkelstein, a police investigator from Kibbutz Ein Hanatziv in northern Israel, was also killed.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the killings, pledging to hold the perpetrators and their accomplices accountable.
“No-one will get away,” he declared on social media. Defence Minister Israel Katz ordered intensified military operations in areas associated with the attackers, vowing that Israel would not allow a “Gaza-like” situation to develop in the West Bank.
While no Palestinian group claimed responsibility, Hamas praised the attack, calling it a “heroic response” to Israel’s ongoing actions, including its military campaign in Gaza.
The West Bank has witnessed escalating violence since the war began following Hamas’s 7 October 2023 assault on southern Israel. Hundreds of Palestinians and dozens of Israelis have died in the unrest.
Frances Ibiefo
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