3 Israelis fatally shot in West Bank attack on a bus, Israel launches manhunt for attackers

Three Israelis were killed and eight others injured in a Palestinian shooting attack targeting a bus and two cars in the northern part of the occupied West Bank, according to the Israeli military and paramedics. The victims included two women in their 70s and a 35-year-old police officer, while the bus driver sustained serious injuries.

The Israeli military said that “terrorists” opened fire on the vehicles near the village of al-Funduq, situated along Highway 55, before fleeing the scene.

Israeli soldiers have launched widespread operations in the northern West Bank looking for the attackers.

Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war, and the Palestinians seek all three territories for their future state.

Meanwhile, the war in Gaza is raging with no end in sight, although there has reportedly been recent progress in long-running talks aimed at a ceasefire and release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.

Israel’s war in Gaza has killed over 45,800 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, who say women and children make up more than half of those killed. They do not say how many of the dead were militants.

The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed across the border in a massive surprise attack nearly 15 months ago, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250. Some 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead.

With inputs from agencies.