Terrorists open fire at a bus carrying Israelis; 3 dead, 7 injured

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Three people were killed and eight wounded in a shooting on Monday morning next to the Palestinian village of Al-Funduq, located close to Kedumim in northern Samaria, according to the Magen David Adom emergency medical service.

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed that terrorists had opened fire at a civilian bus and vehicles on Highway 55.

MDA paramedics pronounced the deaths of two women in their 60s and a man in his 40s. A 63-year-old man, the driver of the bus, was listed by MDA as being in serious condition. Among the bus passengers, seven were injured. This included two women, aged around 60 and 70, who were listed in moderate condition. The remaining passengers suffered minor injuries.

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They were evacuated to Meir Hospital in Kfar Saba and Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva.

“As a result of the attack, a number of civilians were injured to varying degrees and are currently receiving medical treatment,” the IDF said, adding that security forces were pursuing the gunmen, setting up roadblocks and encircling several towns in the area.

Hebrew media initially reported that two gunmen in a white vehicle fired on two vehicles and a bus, and that the intensive search for the terrorists was ongoing, including efforts from both the air and the ground.

Citing a security source, Army Radio later reported that three terrorists carried out the shooting attack.

“My wife and I send heartfelt condolences to the families of the three people who were murdered in the terrible attack this morning, and wishes for a full recovery to those who were wounded,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in response to the attack.

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“We will find the abhorrent murderers and settle accounts with them and with all those who aided them. No one will get away,” he added.

“Anyone who seeks to end the war in Gaza [via such attacks] will receive a war in Judea and Samaria,” National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir tweeted.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich emphasized that terror in Judea and Samaria, Gaza, and Iran is interconnected and must be decisively defeated.

“The concept is still here, and it is costing precious blood,” he tweeted.

“Anyone who relies on the Palestinian Authority to secure the safety of Israeli citizens is waking up to a morning where terrorists are again slaughtering Jewish residents. Funduk, Nablus and Jenin must look like Jabaliya, so that Kfar Saba does not, God forbid, become Gaza,” he wrote.

“I demand that the prime minister urgently convene the Cabinet today for a discussion on changing the strategy and for a real elimination of terror in Judea and Samaria,” he concluded.

Opposition leader and head of the Yesh Atid Party Yair Lapid responded critically to Smotrich’s remarks, tweeting: “You are the government. You are responsible. The concept is yours. It was yours on Oct. 7. It has been yours for the past 20 years. You are the ones leading Israel from disaster to disaster. And then you complain as if you have no connection to it.”

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Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council, said after the attack: “We demand that the government and senior IDF leadership break away from the existing approach towards the Palestinian Authority, confiscate all illegal weapons, and start fighting Abu Mazen (P.A. leader Mahmoud Abbas), who orchestrates this terror. The blood of our brothers spilled here on the road cries out, and these attacks can be prevented. We demand security.”

Israeli authorities aim to start construction of a road to bypass Al-Funduq in the coming weeks, the Samaria Regional Council said on Thursday.

The first phase of the bypass road includes the western section of the route towards the city of Karnei Shomron.

“The Al-Funduq bypass road is part of the revolution of bypass roads in Samaria,” Dagan explained in a statement. “The Huwara bypass, the Al-Lubban bypass, the Al-Arub bypass and now here in Al-Funduq. This is a major route through which hundreds of thousands pass every week, and this road will significantly improve security and the quality of life.

“Our answer to heinous terrorism is the building of the land,” the local leader continued. “We will strengthen security here on this road, we will continue to develop the settlement [of Judea and Samaria], and with God’s help, together we will reach a million residents in Samaria.”

The new road around Al-Funduq was approved by the Israel Defense Forces as part of the “lessons learned” after the Feb. 26, 2023, terrorist murder of brothers Hallel and Yagel Yaniv in a shooting attack on the part of Route 60 that passed through the Samaria village of Huwara, near Nablus.

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