Several wounded in gun attack on bus in West Bank
Jerusalem, Sep 4 (EFE).- Six Israeli soldiers and a civilian were wounded on Sunday in a shooting attack on an Israeli bus in the Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank.
Two suspects have been arrested, the Israeli Defense Forces said.
“A shooting attack took place in the Jordan Valley area earlier today during which armed terrorists fired at a bus, injuring 6 IDF soldiers & a civilian,” the IDF said.
“IDF forces apprehended 2 individuals suspected of carrying out the attack. They are still searching for additional terrorists,” the statement added.
The attack took place near the Israeli settlement of Hamra, where an IDF soldier was treated with a serious injury. The other five soldiers and the bus driver sustained mild injuries.
“I wish a speedy recovery to those injured in the shooting attack in the Jordan Valley,” prime minister Yair Lapid wrote on Twitter.
He also praised “the rescue and security forces that acted quickly and decisively to treat the injured and apprehend the suspected terrorists,” pledging to stop “anyone who tries to harm the citizens and soldiers of the State of Israel.”
The gunmen were in a truck when they opened fire at the bus and then poured gasoline on it when it came to a stop in an attempt to set it on fire, a military spokesman told local media.
The bus was full and was hit by at least eight bullets, eyewitnesses told local media, adding that a third suspect managed to flee the scene.
Shortly after the attack, Israeli troops detained the two suspects near a vehicle that had been set on fire.
“We saw two people with gunshot wounds outside the bus being treated by army medics. A man in his 60s and a younger man,” a doctor for Magen David Adom (Israel’s national emergency medical service) said.
“They were fully conscious and able to communicate with us. In addition, there were other young men injured by broken glass,” he added.
In recent weeks, there have been several Palestinian attacks on buses, one near Ramallah and another in East Jerusalem.
On Friday, a Palestinian was killed by Israeli troops after stabbing a soldier near the Kiryat Arba settlement in the Hebron area. EFE
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