Hamas claims responsibility for Jerusalem shooting that killed 3

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Hamas claimed responsibility for a shooting attack in Jerusalem that killed three people on Thursday, shortly after the extension of a truce between Israel and the fighter group that rules the Gaza Strip.

Police said the two gunmen who carried out the attack were from occupied East Jerusalem and were shot dead at the scene, near a bus stop on the western side of the city, where there are no checkpoints controlling entry.

Israeli occupation officials identified those killed as a 73-year-old rabbi, Elimelech Waserman, along with Hana Ifergan, 67, and Livia Dikman, 24.

In a statement issued hours later claiming responsibility, Hamas called the attack "a natural response to the unprecedented crimes of the occupier in the Gaza Strip and against children in Jenin", in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Footage circulating on social media and broadcast on Israeli television showed two men emerging from a white car and opening fire on people waiting for a bus, before security personnel and bystanders intervene and return fire.

AFP was unable to immediately verify the footage.

Meanwhile, two Israeli soldiers were slightly injured in a ramming attack at a checkpoint in the occupied West Bank, the army said, adding “soldiers at the scene shot and neutralised the assailant”.

Violence has surged in the West Bank since the Hamas sudden attacks on southern Israel on October 7 and Israel’s retaliatory assault on the group in the Gaza Strip.

That attack was also claimed by the armed wing of Hamas, the Ezzedine Al Qassam Brigades.