On September 8th, a Palestinian gun man opened fire at a bus stop in the city of Jerusalem. Six people were killed and eight others were wounded, with two being in critical condition. Two gun men drove up in a car and they proceeded to open fire at a bus stop at the corner of a busy street. After this, an off-duty police officer and a civilian opened fire at the gun man and neutralized them. This all went down a busy crossroads at Ramot Junction, in what part of Jerusalem, at the end of rush hour. One of the people killed was a Spanish citizen. Gradine, a representative in the Spanish government said “The government wishes to express its solidarity and extend its deepest condolences to the families of the victims, especially those of the murdered Spanish citizen, and to express its hope that the injured recover as quickly as possible.” The police recovered weapons, munitions and knives that were used by the attackers. Before they opened fire, the gunnman came from a neighboring village called Al-Qubeiba.
The next step for the Jerusalem police force was to try to find out who was behind this attack and to go after them. The local police cornered off the town where it is believed that the gun man had come from, searching 70% of the homes in the neighborhood. Additionally, a very strict curfew has been placed on the village as a result of the shooting. The Israeli Defense Minister Mr. Katz said he would revoke all 750 work visas and entry visas in the village. This would restrict them from leaving and not allow the towns poeple to work. It was also ordered that every illegal structure in the village be destroyed. It is still unclear which buildings would be classified as illegal and which are ok to stand.
As more and more information has come out, Hamas, the militant pro-Palestianian group, has claimed this attack. This shooting is in response to Israel’s attacks on Hamas leaders in Qatar. Foreign countries have been trying to pressure both Israel and Hamas into peace, but attempts appear to be useless as both parties keep constantly attacking each other.