ISLAMABAD: Israel’s emergency service said a shooting attack at a road junction in East Jerusalem on Monday killed five people and left several others injured.
French News Agency AFP reported that emergency service and medical teams pronounced the deaths of five victims, including a man about 50 years old and three men aged around 30, a statement from Magen David Adom said, adding it was providing medical treatment to several other people, with five evacuated to hospitals.
At least 15 other people were wounded, including six in critical condition, when two gunmen opened fire on commuters during the morning rush hour.
Israeli police released details about the attackers, identifying them as East Jerusalem residents with prior security records. Officials said both men were killed at the scene after security forces responded swiftly to the assault.
The incident sparked widespread panic at one of the capital’s busiest intersections, where witnesses described passengers running for cover as gunfire erupted. Emergency services said dozens were evacuated from the area as police sealed off the site.
The incident unfolded at one of the busiest intersections in northern Jerusalem, where commuters described chaotic scenes as passengers scrambled for cover. Emergency responders rushed victims to hospitals as security forces sealed off the area.
The shooting comes amid escalating tensions across the region. Just a day earlier, Yemen’s Houthi rebels said they launched a drone that struck Ramon Airport near Eilat, forcing a temporary closure, according to Reuters. In Jerusalem, Defence Minister Israel Katz warned Gaza of a “powerful hurricane” if Hamas refused to release hostages and disarm.
Israeli political analyst Ori Goldberg says the shooting attack in Jerusalem in which four people were killed was most likely to have originated from the occupied West Bank, rather than from Hamas in Gaza.
Speaking from Tel Aviv, Goldberg told Al Jazeera he “seriously” doubted it had been ordered by Hamas.
If Hamas had carried out the attack, then it would mean Hamas was “trying to step up its resistance to what is beginning to look like a superimposed attempt to end the war,” he said, referring to comments from the Trump administration that it is working on a solution to the war in Gaza.
“It seems much more like that this came from the West Bank or around Jerusalem,” he said, adding that the situation for Palestinians there was “quite dire in financial and political terms”.
“Israel has been maintaining a blockade on the West Bank; it has been denying tens of thousands of Palestinians the ability to work for a living,” he said.
“The economic situation all over the West Bank is as bad as it has ever been. The Palestinian Authority is not up to the task, mainly because Israel is not allowing it to handle the situation.”
