By Mohamed Majed and Zeynep Tufekci Gulay
GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - The Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian group Hamas, claimed responsibility late Wednesday for an attack in the occupied West Bank that killed three Israelis.
In a statement, the group announced that it carried out the attack Monday in coordination with the Al-Quds Brigades and Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades.
Gunfire was reported targeting a bus and other vehicles carrying Israelis.
Three Israeli settlers were killed and six injured, Israeli medics said. Authorities said the assailants fled the scene.
The Israeli public broadcaster KAN said the attack targeted a bus carrying illegal Israeli settlers and two cars near the settlement of Kedumim east of Qalqilya in the northern West Bank.
Tension has been running high across the occupied West Bank due to Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 45,850 people, mostly women and children, since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.
At least 838 Palestinians have since been killed and more than 6,700 injured by Israeli army fire in the occupied territory, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
In November last year, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its deadly war on the enclave.