Ten Israelis were killed on Monday in the country’s deadliest day since January 23, with six people gunned down in Jerusalem by Palestinian attackers and four soldiers killed in fighting in northern Gaza.
The Jerusalem attack unfolded at the Ramot Junction, where two gunmen opened fire on commuters. Six civilians were killed and several others wounded. The dead were identified as Yacov Pinto, 25, Levi Yitzhak Pesh, Israel Metzner, 28, Yosef David, 43, along with a 57-year-old man and a woman in her 50s.
Witnesses described scenes of panic as the shooting erupted. “It felt like an eternity. I was on the bus, and suddenly gunshots rang out from all directions. It was terrifying,” said Esther Lugasi, who was lightly injured and treated at Shaare Zedek Medical Center.
Israeli security services said the attackers came from the villages of Kafr Ni’ma and Al-Kubeiba near Ramallah and were believed to have entered Jerusalem through a breach in the security barrier in the Dahiyat al-Bireh area.
In a rare move, the Palestinian presidency issued a statement condemning the attack, saying it “firmly rejects and condemns any targeting of civilians and renounces all forms of violence.”
The attack comes weeks before the Palestinian Authority plans to seek recognition of a Palestinian state at the United Nations in September. Critics argue that the PA’s continued financial support for convicted militants and their families undermines its claims of non-violence.
In Gaza, the Israeli military said four soldiers were killed during combat operations in the north of the enclave. They were named as Staff Sergeant Uri Lamed, 20, Sergeant Gadi Cotal, 20, and Sergeant Amit Arye Regev, 19, all from the 52nd Battalion of the 401st Brigade. The name of a fourth soldier has been withheld until the family is notified.
The dual tragedies have left Israel reeling, with the combined toll of civilian and military losses marking the bloodiest single day for the country in more than seven months.
