Hamas attacker opens fire at Israeli bus in West Bank, injuring at least 8: report

An alleged gunman from the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas opened fire Friday at an Israeli bus in the West Bank, injuring eight people, including four soldiers, reports say. 

The incident near the settlement of Ariel ended when the attacker, identified by Hamas as 46-year-old Samer Hussein, was killed by Israeli troops. 

"As a result of the shooting attack, four IDF soldiers were lightly injured and were evacuated to a hospital to receive medical treatment," the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement, adding that "an armed terrorist opened fire at an Israeli bus in Gitti Avisar [Junction], causing injuries and damage." 

Images and video taken from the scene showed numerous bullet holes in the front windshield of the bus and a heavily damaged car on the side of the road. 

"IDF soldiers eliminated the terrorist at the scene," the Israeli military said. 

Hamas’s armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, said the assailant belonged to its ranks, according to Reuters. 

Elsewhere, Friday, two girls and a woman were crushed to death as a crowd of Palestinians pushed to get bread at a bakery in the Gaza Strip. 

The bodies of two girls aged 13 and 17 and the 50-year-old woman were taken to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, where a doctor confirmed that they died from suffocation due to crowding at the al-Banna bakery, according to The Associated Press. 

Food prices reportedly have been soaring in the Gaza Strip following a recent attack on nearly 100 U.N. aid trucks that crossed over from Israel. 

A woman in the city of Deir al-Balah told The Associated Press last week that the price of flour has now climbed to more than $100 a bag, if it can even be found. 

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