Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel is fighting an “intense war against terror” as Palestinian terrorists killed six people at Jerusalem on Monday.
The two terrorists, who shot at people waiting for the bus at Ramot Junction in Jerusalem, were killed by an armed civilian and a security officer on the scene.
Speaking to the media from the scene of the attack Mr. Netanyahu said: “A mighty war against terror is taking place on all fronts… The Shin Bet and the IDF thwarted hundreds (of attacks), and the Israel Police also thwarted hundreds this year. But unfortunately, not this morning.”
Paramedic, Fadi Dekaidek, from Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency unit, was among the first responders on the scene, calling it “severe.”
“We arrived with large forces and immediately began triaging the injured and providing medical treatment to several casualties with varying degrees of injury, including those in serious and critical condition,” Mr. Dekaidek said.
An eyewitness described in an interview with Channel 12 how people were fleeing the chaotic scene
The paramedic added that the wounded were lying on the road and sidewalk near a bus stop, some of them unconscious. Five people in serious condition were evacuated to hospitals in Jerusalem, including Hadassah Ein Kerem, Hadassah Mount Scopus and Shaare Zedek Medical Center.
A “Carlo” submachine gun was found near the scene, which has been used by Palestinian terrorists in the past.
Israeli media reported that the two terrorists came from the villages of Al-Qubeiba and Qatanna in the West Bank.
The IDF said that soldiers were “dispatched to the area” searching for suspects in cooperation with the Israel Police.
“Simultaneously, IDF soldiers are currently encircling several areas on the outskirts of Ramallah to thwart terrorism and strengthen the defense effort,” the IDF added.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad praised the “heroic attack” in Jerusalem, calling it a “natural response” to “crimes” committed against the Palestinian people.
Finance Minister and security cabinet member Betzalel Smotrich lashed out at the Palestinian Authority following the attack, saying Israel cannot accept that it teaches Palestinian children to “murder Jews.”
“The Palestinian Authority must disappear from the map, and the villages from which the terrorists came should look like Rafah and Beit Hanoun,” Mr. Smotrich added, referring to two cities in Gaza which have been largely flattened.
President Herzog said the “shocking attack reminds us once again that we are fighting absolute evil. The world must understand what we are up against, and that terror will never defeat us.”
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