Israeli Bus Be Bombarded With Fire In The West Bank, Five Army And Driver Injured

Illustration of the shooting. (Pexels/Maurício Mascaro)

JAKARTA - Five soldiers and drivers were injured as Palestinians opened fire on an Israeli bus on the desert highway, the occupied West Bank on Sunday, Israeli military authorities and medics said.

The incident, where authorities said two suspected gunmen were detained while they were trying to escape, occurred as the bus drove between Jenin and Nablus, Palestinian cities that had witnessed Israel's intensive and deadly months of security sweep.

Witnesses said Palestinians in the car overtook the bus, opened fire on it with bullets and, when it stopped, tried to burn it. Israeli TV showed footage of a car burning after, he said, a bomb exploded inside.

There was no immediate Palestinian claim of responsibility, but a Hamas spokesman praised the attack as "evidence that all attempts by the occupation (Israel) to halt increased resistance operations in the West Bank had failed".

Israel has stepped up attacks on the West Bank over the past few months, following several deadly attacks by Palestinians in its cities between March and May.

Violence has added to the obstacles to the Palestinian independence effort. US-sponsored state talks with Israel stalled in 2014, with low economic prospects and Western-backed Palestinian Authority (PA), which runs its own government on a limited basis in the West Bank, have seen its domestic credibility weaken.

Ram Ben-Brak, head of Israel's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said he expected a peace deal with the Palestinian Authority, but described the prospect as inappropriate for now.

"The situation is very sensitive and explosive, on the one hand, while on the other we see more and more Palestinians understanding that the way forward is not violence," Ben-Brak told Israeli Army Radio.

Israel, he added, would respond "with great firmness while allowing those who do not want to turn to terrorism, to continue their routine lives".