Gunmen opened fire on a bus carrying Israelis in the occupied West Bank on Monday, killing at least three people and wounding seven others.
The attack took place in the Palestinian village of Al-Funduq, on one of the main east-west roads that cross the territory. Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service said two women in their 60s and a man in their 40s were killed, and the military said it was searching for the attackers.
Palestinians have carried out numerous shootings, stabbings and car-ramming attacks against Israelis in recent years, with violence rising in the territory since Hamas led an attack in southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
Israel has launched almost nightly military strikes across the territory that often spark gun battles with militants. There has also been a sharp increase in attacks on Palestinians by Israeli settlers, prompting the United States to impose sanctions.
The Palestinian Health Ministry says at least 838 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank since the Gaza war began. Most appear to have been militants killed in clashes with Israeli troops, but the dead also include participants in violent protests and civilian bystanders.
Netanyahu promises to catch the attackers
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to “find the despicable killers” behind Monday’s attack and “get even with them and everyone who helped them. No one will be spared.”
Hamas praised the attack in a statement but did not claim responsibility for it.
Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East War, and the Palestinians want all three territories for their future state.
Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank say Israeli settler tactics have become more extreme in the past year. Margaret Evans and the CBC News team went to the South Hebron Hills to better understand what it’s like to live in the shadow of these illegal settlements. “
About three million Palestinians live in the West Bank under seemingly unlimited Israeli military rule, with the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority governing the settlement centers.
More than 500,000 settlers with Israeli citizenship live in more than 100 settlements throughout the territory, from small hilltop suburbs to sprawling communities that resemble suburbs or small towns. Most of the international community considers the settlements to be illegal.
Meanwhile, the war in Gaza rages on with no end in sight, although progress has reportedly been made recently in protracted negotiations aimed at a ceasefire and the release of hostages.
Israel’s air and ground offensive has killed more than 45,800 Palestinians in Gaza, according to local health authorities, who say women and children make up more than half of those killed. They do not say how dead the militants were. The Israeli army claims to have killed more than 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence.
The original surprise attack in Israel nearly 15 months ago killed about 1,200 people, including several Canadian citizens. About 100 hostages are still in Gaza, of whom the Israeli government believes at least a third are dead.
Hamas suffered heavy losses, but regrouped several times after Israeli operations. Militants fired three missiles at Israel from Gaza on Monday, one of which was intercepted, the army said. There are no reports of casualties.
The war has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and displaced 90 percent of the territory’s population of 2.3 million, often multiple times. Hundreds of thousands of people endure the cold, rainy winter in tented camps along the windswept coast.
Aid groups say Israeli restrictions, constant fighting and the breakdown of law and order in many areas make it difficult to deliver desperately needed food and other aid.
