3 Killed As 2 Palestinians Open Fire At Jerusalem Bus Stop: Police

According to Israeli Police, two Palestinian attackers opened fire at a bus stop in Jerusalem killing three people.

Two Hamas gunmen killed three people at a Jerusalem bus stop during morning rush hour on Thursday, news agency Reuters reported citing police officials. The attackers, Palestinians from East Jerusalem, were shot dead by off-duty soldiers and an armed civilian, police said. According to the report, at least eight people were also injured in the shooting.

"The terrorists arrived at the scene by car in the morning, armed with an M-16 rifle and a handgun," according to police, as reported by Reuters. "The terrorists began shooting at civilians before subsequently being killed at the scene."

According to the report, security camera footage obtained by the news agency (Reuters) showed a white car stopping next to a crowded bus stop. Two men then emerge, guns drawn, and charge at the crowd, scattering them. The Palestinian attackers are shot shortly afterwards.

According to the report, a large number of first responders and security forces converged on the area, which was densely populated with morning commuters. According to Israeli media, the victims were a woman in her twenties, a woman in her sixties, and a 74-year-old rabbi.

Israel's Shin Bet security agency identified the gunmen as 30- and 38-year-old brothers who were affiliated with Hamas, which runs Gaza. Both had previously been jailed in Israel, Reuters report said.

"It is the same Hamas that carried out the horrible Oct. 7 massacre, the same Hamas that tries to murder us everywhere," Netanyahu said in Jerusalem shortly after meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. "I told him (Blinken): 'We swore, I swore, to destroy Hamas. Nothing will stand in our way,'" Reuters quoted him as saying. 

As per the report, Hamas claimed responsibility for the Jerusalem attack, calling it "heroic". 

"The operation was a natural response to the Occupation's (Israel's) unprecedented crimes," it said in a statement, citing the military offensive in Gaza and the treatment of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, Reuters reported.

Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel's far-right police minister, told reporters at the scene that the attack "proves again how we must not show weakness, that we must speak to Hamas only through the (rifle) scopes, only through the war," according to the report.

He also stated that Israel would maintain its policy of relaxing regulations for the issuance of gun licences to private citizens.

Blinken, who is visiting the region for the third time since the war began, said Thursday's shooting reminded him of "the threat from terrorism that Israel and Israelis face every single day... My heart goes out to the victims of this attack," as per the report. 

This comes amid an extension of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas to allow for the release of more hostages.

The one-day extension of the truce agreement would allow negotiators to continue working on deals to swap hostages held in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners.

The ceasefire has allowed the delivery of essential humanitarian aid to Gaza, where a significant portion of the coastal region, with a population of 2.3 million, was devastated by Israel's airstrikes in retaliation for the attack by Hamas militants on October 7.

According to Reuters, the Israeli military said in a statement made minutes before the temporary truce was due to expire at 0500 GMT, “In light of the mediators' efforts to continue the process of releasing the hostages and subject to the terms of the framework, the operational pause will continue”.

Hamas freed 16 hostages in exchange for 30 Palestinian prisoners on Wednesday, they said in a statement that the truce would continue for a seventh day.

Ceasefire Agreement Of Israel And Gaza

According to a spokesperson from Qatar's foreign ministry, the terms of the ceasefire would include a halt to hostilities and the entry of humanitarian aid would remain the same. Qatar, alongside Egypt and the United States, has played a pivotal role as a mediator between the conflicting parties.

Before the accord, both Israel and Hamas had signalled readiness to resume conflict as negotiations concerning the release of the next group of hostages encountered a deadlock.

"A short time ago, Israel was given a list of women and children in accordance with the terms of the agreement, and therefore the truce will continue," the Israeli prime minister's office said in a statement just as the truce was due to expire.

Earlier, Hamas had said that Israel declined to accept an additional seven women and children, as well as the remains of three other hostages, in exchange for extending the ceasefire.

While Hamas did not disclose the identities of the deceased, they had earlier stated that a family of three Israeli hostages, including the youngest, 10-month-old Kfir Bibas, had perished during Israel's airstrikes on the territory.

In retaliation to the October 7 attack by the militant group Hamas, during which, Israel claimed 1,200 people and took 240 hostages, Israel has declared its determination to obliterate Hamas.

Before the ceasefire agreement, Israel subjected the territory to seven weeks of bombardment, resulting in the reported death of over 15,000 Palestinians, as stated by health authorities in the Gaza strip.