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Three Israelis killed in occupied West Bank bus shooting

Three Israelis killed in occupied West Bank bus shooting
MENA
2 min read
06 January, 2025
Following the attack, far-right Israeli ministers called to end cooperation with the Palestinian Authority and for the erasure of Palestinian towns.
Israeli forces have closed checkpoints around Qalqilya as part of an effort to find the shooters [Photo by MOHAMMAD NAZAL/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images]

An attack on a bus carrying Israelis in the occupied West Bank killed three people on Monday, with Israeli ministers calling for an end to cooperation with the Palestinian Authority.

The attack, which wounded seven others, occurred in the village of Al-Funduq, east of the city of Qalqilya and near the Israeli settlement of Kedumim, according to Israeli rescue service Magen David Adom.

Three victims two were women, both in their 60s, and one a man in his 40s, the service added.

The Israeli army said that two armed Palestinian men opened fire on the bus, according to Haaretz, which added that Israeli forces were searching for them, closing checkpoints in the eastern areas of Qalqilya and southern Nablus.

Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for the erasure of Palestinian towns in the occupied West Bank like that in Gaza, saying on X that "Funduq, Nablus and Jenin should look like Jabalya".

Far-right minister for National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir called for an end to cooperation with the Palestinian Authority (PA).

"Remember that the PA supports terror, stop all cooperation with it, place as many checkpoints as possible and close roads [because] the settler' right to life outweighs PA residents' freedom of movement," he said.

Following the incident, Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian vehicles near the village of Burin south of Nablus, close to the Israeli settlement of Yitzhar.

Further attacks by Israeli settlers were also carried out against the Bardala Mixed Secondary School in the village of Bardala in the northern West Bank, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa.

In Gaza, Israeli shelling of the enclave has continued even as ceasefire negotiations continue in Doha, Qatar.

At least 14 people were killed on Monday morning in the bombardment, which included an Israeli airstrike that killed four people north of Gaza City, as well as a drone strike in central Gaza that killed two, including a child, Wafa reported.

In Doha, Israel and Hamas have reportedly agreed to a list of 34 hostages set to be released in the first phase of a ceasefire deal, according to a Hamas official.

However, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement on Monday saying that it had not received confirmation regarding whether said hostages were alive.

Israel's war on Gaza, ongoing for 15 months, has killed 45,805 people and wounded a further 109,064.