Gunmen targeting bus in the occupied West Bank kill 3 people

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Gunmen opened fire on a bus carrying Israelis in the occupied West Bank on Monday, killing three people and wounding eight others. Violence has surged in the territory since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack out of Gaza ignited the ongoing war there.

The shooting occurred in the Palestinian village of Al-Funduq, on one of the main east-west roads crossing the territory used by both Israelis and Palestinians. Israel’s military said two 70-year-old women and a 35-year-old policeman were killed. Widespread operations have been launched in the area looking for the attackers.

Palestinians have carried out scores of shooting, stabbing and car-ramming attacks against Israelis, especially during the past 15 months of the Israel-Hamas war. 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 United States to impose sanctions.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to “reach the despicable murderers” behind Monday’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.

War in Gaza continues amid rumors of ceasefire

While there has reportedly been recent progress in long-running talks aimed at a ceasefire and hostage release, the war in Gaza rages on with no end in sight.

Separately on Monday, Ahmed al-Farra, director of the children’s ward at Nasser hospital in the southern Gaza City of Khan Younis said a 35-day-old infant froze to death inside his family’s tent in the humanitarian area designated by the Israeli military on Friday.

Gaza Health Ministry official Zaher Al-Wahidi said babies and most children can’t tolerate weather conditions when temperatures dip low as 3 degrees Celsius.

Aid groups say Israeli restrictions, ongoing fighting and a breakdown of law and order in many areas make it difficult to provide desperately needed food and other assistance, and there is a shortage of blankets and warm clothing.

There is little wood for fire and the tents and patched-together tarps families are living in have grown increasingly threadbare after months of heavy use.

Ongoing violence in the West Bank

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.

At least 46 Israelis, including 19 soldiers, have been killed in violent attacks by Palestinian militants, according to the U.N.

Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war, and the Palestinians want all three territories for their future state.

Some 3 million Palestinians live in the West Bank under Israeli military rule, with the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority administering population centers.

Over 500,000 settlers with Israeli citizenship live in well over 100 settlements across the territory, ranging from small hilltop outposts to sprawling communities that resemble suburbs or small towns. Most of the international community considers the settlements illegal.

The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed across the border in a massive surprise attack nearly 15 months ago, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250. Some 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead.

Israel’s air and ground offensive has killed over 45,800 Palestinians in Gaza, according to local health authorities, who say women and children make up more than half of those killed. They do not say how many of the dead were militants. The Israeli military says it has killed over 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence.

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Associated Press writer Melanie Lidman in Jerusalem and Fatma Khaled in Cairo contributed to this report.

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Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Tia Goldenberg, The Associated Press