Shooting attack on a bus carrying Israelis in the occupied West Bank kills 3

Violence erupts in West Bank as gunmen attack Israelis, sparking ongoing war with Gaza, causing widespread devastation and casualties.

Gunmen opened fire on a bus carrying Israelis in the occupied West Bank on Monday (February 3, 2025), killing at least three persons and wounding seven others. Violence has surged in the territory since Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack out of Gaza ignited the ongoing war there.

The attack occurred in the Palestinian village of al-Funduq, on one of the main east-west roads crossing the territory. Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service said two women in their 60s and a man in his 40s were killed, and the military said it was looking for the attackers.

Palestinians have carried out scores of shootings, stabbing and car-ramming attacks against Israelis in recent years. Israel has launched near-nightly military raids across the territory that frequently trigger gunbattle with militants. There has also been a sharp rise in attacks on Palestinians by Israeli settlers, leading the U.S. to impose sanctions.

The Palestinian Health Ministry says at least 838 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank since the start of the war in Gaza. Most appear to have been militants killed in battles with Israeli troops, but the dead also include participants in violent protests and civilian bystanders.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to “reach the despicable murderers” behind Monday (February 3, 2025)‘s attack and “settle accounts with them and with everyone who assisted 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 West Asian war, and the Palestinians want all three territories for their future state.