6 Killed, 12 Injured in Jerusalem Terror Attack

Six people were murdered Monday and 12 were wounded, six of them seriously, when a pair of Palestinian terrorists opened fire on vehicles and pedestrians in Jerusalem’s Ramot Junction.

The two gunmen, residents of the West Bank, arrived at the junction shortly after 10 a.m. — according to some reports, by car — and opened fire at people waiting at a bus stop as well at a bus that had just stopped there.

Police said that a soldier and a number of civilians who were present at the scene fired at the terrorists and killed them.

The military said the soldier was an off-duty squad commander in the military’s new Hasmonean Brigade, a unit for ultra-Orthodox troops. Magen David Adom said four of the victims were declared dead at the scene, while two others were rushed to hospital and later succumbed to their wounds.

At least six others were listed in serious condition, as well as two whose status was moderate and three who were lightly hurt, according to MDA.

The dead were named as Levi Yitzhak Pash, 57, Yaakov Pinto, 25, Yisrael Matzner, 28, and Rabbi Yosef David, 43, Rabbi Mordechai Steintzag, 79, and Sarah Mendelson, 60.

The two terrorists were identified by the Shin Bet security agency as Mohammad Taha, 21, from Qatanna, and Muthanna Amro, 20, from Qubeiba. Neither had prior arrests, according to the Shin Bet.

The two villages are adjacent to each other on the outskirts of Ramallah in the West Bank, west of the junction and over the Green Line. The Israel Defense Forces said troops were encircling the villages.

The attackers used makeshift “Carlo” submachine guns, according to images from the scene. The improvised gun, also known as a Carl Gustav, is commonly manufactured at illegal workshops in the West Bank and has been used in numerous Palestinian attacks in the past.

Police said they had recovered the weapons, as well as a knife and ammunition.

Law enforcement officials also said the Shin Bet security agency had arrested a resident of East Jerusalem suspected of smuggling the two gunmen into Jerusalem by car. The man has had previous run-ins with law enforcement for trying to help Palestinians reside illegally in Israel, Kan news reported.