Israel vows 'severe' response after six killed in Jerusalem attack
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The news: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened to retaliate over the deadliest incident in the country in almost one year as six people were killed in a shooting attack in Jerusalem.
The context: Witnesses reported that two gunmen opened fire at a bus in Jerusalem on Monday morning local time, killing six and injuring 10, before being shot dead by a nearby Israeli soldier and armed civilians.
Israeli police are describing the attack as an act of terror, while Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said the gunmen were Palestinians from the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
No group has claimed it has carried out the attack - but Hamas issued a statement commending the actions of the attackers, calling it a "natural response" to Israel's military activity in Gaza.
The Palestinian Authority which current oversees areas of the West Bank said it rejected and condemned the targeting of Palestinian or Israeli civilians.
Speaking to press at the site of the attack on Monday, Netanyahu said: “We are at a fierce war on several fronts…We are now engaged in pursuit and are cordoning off the villages from which the murderers came…We will apprehend whoever aided and dispatched them, and we will take even stronger steps.”
The last major attack in Israel occurred at a light rail station in Jaffa last year when seven people were killed in an attack claimed by Hamas.
Tensions are running particularly high between Israelis and Palestinians since Israel began a major offensive in Gaza City, after two years of war in the enclave. Israel is also expanding settlement construction and forced eviction of Palestinians from land across the West Bank, with Israeli ministers openly pushing to annex the territory.
