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Israeli boy killed in Palestinian gun attack on bus in West Bank

Getty Images Israeli forces stand near a bus that was attacked by a Palestinian gunmen, killing an Israeli boy, at the Tunnel Military Checkpoint between Jerusalem and the West Bank city of Bethlehem (12 December 2024). A police car with blue light is in the foregroundGetty Images
The bus was was close to a main checkpoint on the road to Jerusalem when the gunman opened fire

A 12-year-old Israeli boy has been killed in a Palestinian shooting attack on a bus in the south of the occupied West Bank, Israeli authorities say.

The Israeli military said the gunman opened fire at the bus in the al-Khader Junction area as it travelled from the settlement of Beitar Illit to Jerusalem.

The victim was named as Yehoshua Aharon Tuvia Simha. Paramedics said a woman and two men were also wounded.

The attacker fled the scene but later turned himself in to Israeli security forces following searches in the nearby Bethlehem area, the military added.

Israeli media identified him as Ezzedine Malluh from Beit Awwa.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog described the attack as "a very painful and sad moment for the people of Israel".

A Hamas official called it "heroic" without saying the group was behind it.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian health ministry said a Palestinian man was shot and killed by Israeli forces in the northern West Bank town of Qalqilya on Wednesday morning.

Palestinian news agency Wafa cited local sources as saying that Israeli troops opened fire at a car in which Mohammed Brahma, 25, was travelling, and then took away his body.

There has been a surge in violence in the West Bank since the start of the war in Gaza, triggered by Hamas's deadly attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023.

Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed as Israeli forces have intensified their raids, saying they are trying to stem Palestinian attacks that have killed Israelis in the West Bank and Israel.