Palestinian terrorists opened fire on a public Israeli bus in Samaria on Monday night, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.
The bus was traveling through the village of Huwara near Shechem (Nablus) when terrorists fired at least eight bullets, the IDF confirmed. No injuries were reported, though the bulletproof vehicle sustained damage.
At the time of the attack, the bus had several passengers on board.
The Israel Defense Forces said that its personnel had set up roadblocks and launched a manhunt for the terrorists.
“The Israeli government must respond with an iron fist,” Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan told local media following the shooting, adding: “This kind of terrorism should not be contained. We could have had an attack with several deadly casualties.”
Huwara was the scene of several Palestinian terrorist attacks in recent months, including the murder of brothers Hallel Yaniv, 21, and Yagel Yaniv, 19, who were shot by a Palestinian terrorist as they sat in traffic on Feb. 26.
Earlier this month, National Infrastructure and Road Safety Minister Miri Regev stated that she expects the work on the Huwara Bypass Road to be completed by the end of the year.
The bypass road will allow Israelis traveling to and from central Samaria communities including Yitzhar, Elon Moreh, Itamar and Har Bracha to use a safer route instead of the current one through the hostile village.
