At least six killed and several wounded in deadly East Jerusalem shooting

Israeli rescue services and a hospital confirmed that six people were killed and several others wounded on Monday in a shooting attack in East Jerusalem — one of the deadliest in the city since the Gaza war began in October 2023.

The attack took place at the entrance to the Ramot neighborhood, in the occupied and annexed part of Jerusalem, where the assailants opened fire on a bus station, police said.

“The paramedics and EMTs confirmed the deaths of four people, a man around 50 years old and three men in their 30s,” Magen David Adom, Israel’s Red Cross equivalent, said in a statement.

The death of a woman was later confirmed at Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek hospital, while the Hadassah Medical Center confirmed, according to Haaretz, the death of a sixth victim. Eight others were wounded, including five seriously, according to Magen David Adom.

Assailants 'neutralized'

“It was a very difficult scene,” said Fadi Dekaidek, a paramedic with Magen David Adom. “The wounded were lying on the road and sidewalk near a bus stop, some of them unconscious.”

Police said a security officer and a civilian on the scene immediately responded, returned fire, and “neutralized” the attackers, whose deaths were later confirmed.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he was holding a meeting with security officials. Netanyahu later visited the scene of the attack, according to local media.

Hamas hails the attack

Hamas, which is at war with Israel in Gaza, praised the attack and said the perpetrators were Palestinians. “We affirm that this operation is a natural response to the crimes of the occupation and the genocide it is carrying out against our people,” the movement said in a statement.

Hamas added that the attack sent a message that Israel’s plans to occupy and destroy Gaza City “will not pass without punishment.” It also praised the “steadfastness and resistance” of its young fighters in the occupied West Bank and called to “intensify the confrontation” with Israel and to “defy its criminal army.”

Israeli army response

The Israeli army said its forces were “searching for suspects” in the area of the attack and had encircled Palestinian villages in the Ramallah region of the occupied West Bank.