Description

Photos: Published by Haaretz
The site of the shooting attack, in Jerusalem on Monday. Credit: Olivier Fitoussi

Rabbi Yosef David, Sarah Mendelson, Levi Itzhak Pash, Ya'akov Pinto, Mordechai "Mark" Steintzag and Israel Metzner. [not necessarily in order of photos]

Muthanna Amro.

Mohammed Taha.
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Five men and a woman were killed after two suspects opened fire near a Jerusalem bus stop, Israeli authorities said. The Shin Bet identified the attackers as two Palestinians from the West Bank

by Nir Hasson, Yael Freidson, Ido Efrati, Bar Peleg, Yaniv Kubovich, Chaim Levinson, Ofer Aderet and Jack Khoury for Haaretz
September 8th, 2025
Updated:03:14 PM IDT

Six people were killed and two were seriously wounded on Monday morning after two gunmen opened fire near a bus stop in Jerusalem, Israeli authorities said.

The shooting attack that occurred near the Hebrew University left six people moderately wounded, while around 30 people were treated at hospitals in the area. A soldier and a civilian shot and killed two terrorists at the scene, police said.

Rabbi Yosef David, Sarah Mendelson, Levi Itzhak Pash, Ya'akov Pinto, Mordechai "Mark" Steintzag and Israel Metzner have been named as victims of the attack.

The Shin Bet identified the terrorists as Mohammed Taha and Muthanna Amro, residents of villages near Ramallah in the West Bank. The Shin Bet said the two had not been arrested before. A Carlo – the counterfeit of the European Carl Gustav M45 rifle – was found at the scene. Most Carlos are manufactured in the West Bank.

The police stated that, along with the rifle, several other weapons were found at the scene, including a knife. Police sappers said that no explosive device was placed at the scene.

The Shin Bet also arrested at least one person suspected of driving the terrorists to the scene. Security sources said the suspect is a Palestinian from East Jerusalem who had previously driven Palestinians with no entry permits.

The Israeli army closed the main entrance into the villages and towns of northeastern Jerusalem after the attack, in which 70 thousand Palestinians live. Soldiers also entered nearby villages and towns, including Qatannah and al-Qubeiba, to conduct arrests. The number of Palestinians arrested is to be determined.

Videos from the scene of the attack show that the road was busy prior to the shooting, and that many pedestrians were standing in the bus stop. One dashcam video shows dozens of people fleeing from the shooting, which can be heard. The video also shows a taxi driver who stopped his car and helped an elderly woman evacuate from the site, as bullets flew over their heads.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived at the scene around an hour after the attack, along with National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. "The war continues, in Jerusalem as well," the prime minister said at the scene.

The Prime Minister's Office said he had conducted a security assessment with defense officials. The office announced that he would not be able to testify in his criminal corruption case in the Tel Aviv District Court that day, and the hearing was later canceled.

Avi Toledano, who was there on the scene, told Haaretz that "the bus was just standing here like that even before the attack started ... [Passengers] told me that the driver had stopped, regardless, he had some minor problem."

"Shooting started and people were running away from the bus in all directions, "Toledano added. "There was just chaos and chaos, complete loss of control."

Eyewitness Malka Cohen, who was in the bus, told Haaretz that the "bus was packed ... when the door opened, we went down, terrorists came and shot like crazy," she shared. "It's my luck that I was in the rear door, so I ran. The terrorists came in the front, I don't know if they entered [the bus]. There were gunshots in my ears. It was awful and dreadful."

Another eyewitness said he got off the bus before the shooting started. "I heard a burst of gunfire; people were in shock. Everyone was running, you saw children falling," he said. "I didn't see the terrorist. I looked, I realized there was no time, that every second counted."

Nathan, another eyewitness, told Channel 13 News that he heard a burst of gunfire, but arrived at the scene after the suspects were killed. "The bus is riddled with bullets in the front," he said. "There are several wounded people here who were also walking on the bridge and were shot."

Paramedic Niv Taib, who arrived at the scene on behalf of the Magen David emergency services, described the destruction at the scene. "We saw people lying unconscious on the side of the road and the sidewalk near a bus stop," he said.

"There was a lot of destruction at the scene, shattered glass on the floor and a lot of commotion. We started providing medical treatment to the wounded, and we are currently treating the wounded and taking them to hospitals."

President Isaac Herzog condemned the attack. "This shocking attack reminds us once again that we are fighting absolute evil," he wrote in a statement. "The world must understand what we are up against, and that terror will never defeat us."

At the scene, Prime Minister Netanyahu commended the soldier who shot the suspect. The soldier served in a unit for ultra-Orthodox Jewish Israelis, he said, and was assisted by two civilians.

"We need to understand that everyone is part of this war and we need to stand together," he said, likely referring to mass protests in Haredi communities over IDF enlistment.

Netanyahu also said Israel's courts should remember they were "also part of this war – we cannot make it easy for our enemies." On Sunday, the High Court ruled that Israel's prison service may not starve Palestinians in its facilities, after it was found failing to provide basic living conditions to prisoners.

Representatives from several countries, including the United Kingdom, France and the United Arab Emirates, as well as the EU ambassador to Israel, issued statements "strongly" condemning the shooting attack that was carried out in Jerusalem on Monday.