Six people were killed and 12 others injured on Monday morning when two Palestinian gunmen opened fire at a crowded bus stop in the northern outskirts of Jerusalem, Israeli officials have confirmed.
The attack occurred during rush hour at the Ramot intersection, a busy junction at the city’s northern entrance.
According to police, the assailants targeted civilians waiting for public transport before being shot dead by an off-duty soldier and an armed civilian present at the scene.
Emergency services identified five of the deceased as a man and woman in their 50s, and three men in their 30s. Among the wounded, six were reported to be in serious condition with gunshot injuries.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, speaking from Hungary, later confirmed a sixth fatality and stated that the attackers were Palestinians from the Israeli-occupied West Bank. He described the incident as a “terrible terror attack” and urged the international community to take a definitive stance, declaring, “We are in a war with radical Islamist terrorism. Europe and the international community, every country, must now make a clear choice. Are they on Israel’s side, or are they on the side of the jihadists?”
In response to the shooting, Israeli security forces launched a large-scale operation, deploying hundreds of personnel to the area to search for additional suspects or explosives. The Israeli military announced it was encircling Palestinian villages near Ramallah, intensifying its presence in the West Bank.
Militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad praised the attackers, referring to them as “resistance fighters”, though neither claimed direct responsibility. The use of a Carlo submachine gun, reportedly found at the scene, has drawn attention to the proliferation of improvised weapons manufactured in West Bank workshops, often used in similar assaults.
The incident marks the deadliest mass shooting in Israel since October 2024, when two Palestinians opened fire in Tel Aviv, killing seven. That attack was claimed by Hamas’s military wing.
The ongoing war in Gaza has fuelled a sharp rise in violence across Israel and the occupied West Bank. According to data from the UN’s humanitarian office, at least 49 Israelis have been killed by Palestinians in Israel or the West Bank since the conflict began. In the same period, Israeli forces and civilians have killed at least 968 Palestinians.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the site of the attack alongside National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. “The war continues, in Jerusalem as well,” Netanyahu stated.
The Ramot intersection lies in territory occupied by Israel during the 1967 war and later annexed, a move not recognised by the United Nations or most countries.
International reaction was swift. French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the attack and expressed condolences to the victims and the Israeli people. In a statement on social media, he said, “The spiral of violence must come to an end. Only a political solution will bring back peace and stability for all in the region.”
