Israeli officials say 3 were killed in a shooting attack in the West Bank, and forces are “pursuing terrorists.”

Jerusalem Gunmen on Monday opened fire on a bus and other vehicles near a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, killing three people and wounding seven, the Israeli military and emergency services said. Violence has escalated in the West Bank since 2008 The war in Gaza It broke out on October 7, 2023, after the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel.

Emergency service provider Magen David Adom said: “Paramedics confirmed the death of three victims, including two women and a man.”

The Israeli army said that forces were “pursuing the terrorists” who carried out the attack near the hotel village.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement issued by his office: “We will find the vile killers and hold them accountable and all those who helped them.” “No one will survive.”

Magen David Adom said that its paramedics were treating seven people on board the bus, including the driver, who was in serious condition. Magen David Adom reported that the two women killed in the shooting were in their 60s, while the man was about 40 years old.

“This was a violent attack that spread to several locations, where vehicles and a bus came under fire,” paramedic Avichai Ben Zorya said in a statement. He added: “During the initial search for the victims, we found two women, about 60 years old, in a car, unconscious without a pulse or breathing, and suffering from gunshot wounds.”

The army said that forces set up roadblocks and cordoned off several nearby towns to arrest the attackers.

Far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said he had ordered the army to “move in force” to find the attackers.

Ben Gvir said: “We will not tolerate a Gaza-like reality in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank), and anyone who follows the path of Hamas in Gaza and allows the killing and harm of Jews will pay a heavy price.” X.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, another far-right member of the country’s ruling coalition, also warned of dire consequences following the attack.

“The hotel, Nablus and Jenin should resemble Jabalia,” he said in a statement. A destroyed city in the northern Gaza Strip“So that (the city of central Israel) Kfar Saba does not become, God forbid, the next Gaza.”

Violence has escalated in the West Bank since the beginning of the war in Gaza. Israeli forces or settlers have killed at least 818 Palestinians in the West Bank since the start of the war, according to the Ministry of Health in Ramallah. Palestinian attacks on Israelis led to the deaths of at least 25 people in the West Bank in the same period, according to official Israeli figures.

The Israeli army continued its intensive operations in Gaza during the holiday period, prompting warnings from the United Nations and humanitarian groups in particular. Because of the raids that targeted hospitals And camps for displaced civilians.

Talks led by the United States and its partners in the region to broker a ceasefire in the war have repeatedly raised optimism about an imminent agreement, but Foreign Minister Anthony, speaking on Monday during a visit to South Korea. Blinken acknowledged that this may not be possible To reach a truce agreement before the end of President Biden’s term on January 20.

President-elect Donald Trump is expected to take a more sympathetic approach to the Israeli government in the war, which he has said will end quickly, though he has given no indication as to how he will accomplish the feat.