Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is vowing Monday to capture the “despicable murderers” behind a terror attack in the West Bank that left three Israelis dead, including a police officer.
Off-duty Master Sgt. Elad Yaakov Winkelstein and sisters-in-law Rachel Cohen and Aliza Raiz were killed by gunmen who opened fire on vehicles in the Palestinian village of Al-Funduq, according to The Times of Israel.
The attack left eight others injured – including a 63-year-old bus driver – and the Israeli military has launched a manhunt for two suspected shooters affiliated with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist group, the Jerusalem Post reported.
“My wife and I send our deepest condolences to the families of the three people murdered in this morning’s horrific attack and wish the injured a full recovery,” Netanyahu wrote on X. “We will reach the despicable murderers and bring them to justice and everyone who helped them. No one will be spared.”
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An eyewitness who spoke to The Press Service of Israel called the attack a “shooting spree.”
“I saw a Palestinian … take out an M16 from his back window and aim it at vehicles and then I realized it was an attack,” he said. “And I saw the vehicles turning around and all this chaos and then I realized they were coming at me in a second and I was next in line so I started shooting at them.”
“I am a civilian and I have my own private gun. If they had given me an M16 I think their situation would have been different,” the eyewitness added.
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A paramedic with Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency medical service told the Jerusalem Post that the attack “spread across multiple scenes where vehicles and a bus were hit by gunfire.”
“During our initial searches for casualties, we found 2 women … in a vehicle, unconscious without pulse or breathing, with gunshot wounds,” Avichai Ben Zuria said. “About 150 meters away, there was an unconscious driver who also suffered gunshot wounds. After medical assessments, unfortunately, their injuries were severe, and we had to pronounce them deceased.”
Winkelstein is described as being in his 40s, while Cohen, 73, is a school counselor and mother of five children, according to the Jerusalem Post. Raiz, who is 70, is a school counselor as well, the outlet added.
The Palestinian terrorist group Hamas released a statement praising the attack, The Associated Press reported.
