Six Killed and 12 Hurt in Gun Attack by Palestinians at Jerusalem Bus Stop

Palestinian gunmen opened fire at a crowded bus stop in the northern outskirts of Jerusalem yesterday, killing six people and injuring 12 others before being shot dead by an off-duty soldier and a civilian at the scene.

- Jason Burke

The victims included a 79-year-old former cardiologist, a 43-year-old rabbi, and a 25-year-old who had recently emigrated from Spain. Twenty-six others suffered injuries, including six who were left in a serious condition with gunshot wounds.

The Israeli foreign minister, Gideon Saar, later said the attackers were Palestinians from the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Speaking while on a visit to Hungary, he described a "terrible terror attack", adding: "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?"

After the attack, the Israeli military said it was encircling Palestinian villages on the outskirts of the nearby West Bank city of Ramallah.

Eyal Zamir, the Israel Defense Forces' chief of staff, later said in a statement that he had "ordered a full closure of the area from which the terrorists came".