Hamas has claimed responsibility for a deadly gun attack at a busy bus stop in west Jerusalem in which three Israelis were killed, prompting the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to pledge to eliminate the Palestinian group whenever the hostage release halts,
The Guardian reports.
The shooting overshadowed negotiations aimed at extending the existing truce in Gaza, but despite the attack, Egypt and Qatar remained hopeful of securing a two-day extension in return for the release of another 20 hostages and a further 60 Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
In a sign that the framework remained in place for now, six more hostages held in Gaza were handed over to the Red Cross late on Thursday, bringing the total released in the day to eight. It marked the seventh straight night of hostage releases under under the deal. The Israel Prison Service said early on Friday it had released 30 Palestinians from Israeli jails as part of the truce deal with Hamas.
Two women, aged 24 and 65, and a man, 72, were shot and killed on Thursday morning when two gunmen, brothers from East Jerusalem, opened fire at about 7.40 with an assault rifle and a handgun, shooting at a crowd of people waiting on the western edge of the city. Thirteen others were injured, police said.
The gunmen were shot dead less than a minute later, after they retreated to their car, by two off-duty soldiers and an armed civilian. Shortly after the deadly incident they were named by Israel’s Shin Bet internal security agency as the Hamas members Murad Namr, 38, and Ibrahim Namr, 30.
A few hours later, Hamas’s armed wing, al-Qassam Brigades, claimed responsibility. A statement posted on the group’s Telegram channel said the operation was in response “to the occupation’s crimes of killing children and women in Gaza and the occupied West Bank”.
Surveillance video footage showed two men rushing out of a car parked in front of the bus stop, brandishing guns at the crowd. People fled in terror before the two men retreated to the vehicle, where police said they were killed.
