Three people have been killed and several wounded after two gunmen opened fire at a bus stop on the outskirts of Jerusalem, Israeli police said. The attackers were also killed.

Police said 16 people were injured in Thursday morning’s shooting. Emergency services evacuated eight of the more seriously wounded victims to nearby hospitals, the Israeli ambulance service said.

Police in West Jerusalem said the gunmen “arrived at the scene in a vehicle armed with firearms”, including an M16 and a pistol, and opened fire toward a crowd of civilians at the bus station.

The attackers were “subsequently neutralized by security forces and a nearby civilian”, police said. Ammunition and weapons were found inside their car, they added.

Israeli media reported that the two attackers were brothers from occupied East Jerusalem, Murad Nimr, 38, and his brother Ibrahim Nimr, 30.

Hours after the attack, Hamas claimed the brothers as its members, saying in a statement that “the operation came as a natural response to unprecedented crimes conducted by the occupation”, referring to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and the treatment of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

The statement also called for “an escalation of the resistance”.

Arming Israeli citizens

Security camera footage aired by Israel’s Channel 12 television on Thursday showed the moments of the attack. A white car is seen stopped beside a crowded bus stop. Two men then step out, guns drawn, and run at the crowd as people scatter. Shortly afterwards the attackers are gunned down.

The Magen David Adom emergency service said one of the Israeli victims was a 24-year-old woman. A 73-year-old man, who was in a critical condition, was pronounced dead at Shaare Zedek Medical Center. A third person also died of his wounds, Israeli media reported.

The ambulance service initially said that five of the wounded had serious injuries and two had moderate to light injuries.

The incident took place just as Israel and Hamas agreed to extend the truce for a seventh day, shortly before the agreement was set to expire.

After the attack, the Palestinian Wafa news agency reported that Israeli soldiers raided the neighbourhood of Sur Baher in East Jerusalem where the attackers lived, broke into their house, and detained some of their family members for questioning.

On Thursday, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his government will continue to distribute weapons to Israeli civilians.

“The government headed by me will continue expanding the distribution of weapons to citizens. This is a measure that proves itself time and time again in the war against murderous terrorism,” he said on X.

Meanwhile, Energy Minister Israel Katz demanded that the attackers’ family members lose their identity cards from East Jerusalem, saying they must also be denied any other “allowances and privileges”.

“We must hit the supporters of terrorism everywhere,” he said on X.

Source:aljazeera.com