The morning rush hour traffic was at a standstill, with cars inching forward and horns blaring at the Ramot intersection in Jerusalem, as on any other day. Dashcam footage captured the moment automatic gunfire shattered the normality, piercing the windows of a bus stuck in the gridlock. People at the bus stop ran frantically for cover; some screamed, others fell. The victims were all ultra-Orthodox Jews, men in black hats and women with covered heads, residents of the city’s poorer periphery.
Six people were killed and twelve others wounded, some critically, on the targeted bus and on the ground. The two terrorists were “neutralized” by the head of the army’s first Orthodox squad and an armed religious civilian. The commander is part of the Asmonea Brigade, named for the Jewish dynasty that ruled the Land of Israel before Christ. The victims were shot by Mohammad Taha, 21, and Muthanna Amro, 20, from two villages in the West Bank. Israel’s Shin Bet security agency said they had no prior involvement in terrorism. Police reported recovering a homemade submachine gun, a so-called ‘Carlo,’ a pistol, a knife, and ammunition.
According to investigators, the attackers left home Monday morning and met an accomplice who helped them cross from an area under Palestinian Authority control to the Israeli side through a breach in the barrier near Qalandiya and A-Ram, north of Jerusalem. Another accomplice, who transports workers without permits, gave them a ride. Upon arriving at the Ramot intersection, they exited the car and opened fire. “I heard the shots and knew I had to act. We shot until they were dead. I’m glad I was able to do it,” recounted Sergeant ‘S,’ who eliminated the terrorists. One accomplice has been arrested, as has a brother of the two attackers who is suspected of planning the assault. Hamas praised the attack, calling it a “heroic operation.” The IDF has surrounded the attackers’ villages near Ramallah. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned that the “consequences will be far-reaching.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was even more direct: “We have already eliminated terror in three (West Bank) refugee camps, evacuated the population, and removed terrorist infrastructure. Now my directive is to do the same in other nests of terror.” The victims were religious people dedicated to study, prayer, and observance. Levi Yitzhak Pash, 57, who was waiting for a bus, had accepted a ride but then gave up his seat to another passerby who asked to be accompanied. He was killed minutes later. Rabbi Yosef David, 43, was murdered at the stop with his books in hand. Israel Matzner, 28, was considered a genius of Torah study. Rabbi Mordechai Steinzug, 79, a cardiologist, had founded a bakery with people’s health in mind. Sarah Mendelson, 60, worked for a religious Zionist youth movement. Yaakov Pinto, 25, who had immigrated from Spain, was married in June.
In a separate development, the U.S. administration is awaiting an official response from Hamas on what it called the final proposal from former President Trump: the return of all hostages on the first day of an agreement and an end to the war. Israel has accepted the proposal, said Minister Gideon Sa’ar. The terrorist organization has so far stated it does “not reject the U.S. president’s proposal” but that recovering the bodies of hostages ‘under the rubble’ is difficult without a ceasefire first.
Netanyahu stated that ’50 terror buildings’ were struck in Gaza City, warning residents to leave. According to intelligence, Izz al-Din al-Haddad, one of Hamas’s last surviving commanders, is organizing thousands of terrorists from a tunnel network in the western Gaza Strip to counter the IDF’s advance. Hamas claims 40 Palestinians were killed in Israeli raids on Monday. The army announced that four soldiers in their twenties were killed in a Hamas guerrilla operation in Jabalya, northern Gaza. “It is a painful, difficult day. We are fighting against absolute evil,” said Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
The UN’s human rights chief, Volker Turk, accused senior Israeli officials of inciting “genocidal rhetoric” regarding Gaza, a territory he said has been reduced to a “cemetery,” and called for a stronger international response to “stop the slaughter.”