Six killed in gun attack on bus in Jerusalem

At least six people have been killed in a shooting in Jerusalem after attackers opened fire at a bus stop on a busy intersection in north Jerusalem.

Paramedics said 12 other people were injured.

A security officer and a civilian who were at the scene shot and killed the attackers, police said.

Police said the assailants shot people waiting at a bus stop, while Israeli media reported the attackers also boarded a crowded bus and opened fire inside.

The shooting took place at a major intersection at the northern entrance to Jerusalem, on a road that leads to Jewish settlements located in east Jerusalem.

Footage of the attack showed dozens of people fleeing from a bus stop at the busy intersection during the morning rush hour.

Paramedics who responded to the scene said the area was chaotic and covered in broken glass, with people wounded and lying unconscious on the road and a pavement near the bus stop.

Hundreds of security forces arrived at the scene to search for additional attackers or explosives that could have been planted around the area. The Israeli military said it is encircling Palestinian villages on the outskirts of the nearby West Bank city of Ramallah as it steps up defence in response to the attack.

Hamas hailed the attack without claiming responsibility, calling it a “natural response to the occupation’s crimes against our people”.

The war in Gaza has sparked a surge of violence in both the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Israel. Palestinian militants have attacked and killed Israelis in Israel and the West Bank, while there has also been a rise in settler violence against Palestinians.

While there have been scattered attacks over the past months in Israel, the last deadly mass shooting attack was in October 2024, when two Palestinians from the West Bank opened fire on a major boulevard and light rail station in the Tel Aviv area, killing seven people and leaving many others wounded. Hamas’ military wing claimed responsibility for the attack.

According to police, the two men opened fire in the Jaffa neighbourhood of Tel Aviv, including shooting directly into a light rail carriage crowded with passengers that was stopped at a station.