What Happened, and Where
Just after 10 a.m. local on Monday, September 8, two gunmen stepped out near the Ramot Junction bus stop—the northern entrance to Jerusalem, along Yigal Yadin Street—and opened fire into a packed commuter scene. An off-duty soldier and armed civilians shot them within moments, but not before six Israelis were killed and more than a dozen wounded.
Israeli rescue service Magen David Adom reported multiple critical injuries; hospitals later confirmed serious and moderate cases among the wounded, including a pregnant woman.
Who the Shooters Were
Israeli authorities identified the assailants as Mohammad Taha, 21, of Qatanna, and Muthanna Amro, 20, of Qubeiba—adjacent West Bank villages west of Ramallah and not far from the attack site. Both were killed at the scene. Shin Bet officials said neither had prior arrests.
The pair reportedly used improvised “Carlo” submachine guns, a common black-market weapon in recent West Bank attacks; police recovered the firearms, a knife, and ammunition on site. An East Jerusalem resident suspected of smuggling the gunmen into the city was later arrested.
The Victims
The attack at Jerusalem’s Ramot Junction left behind a brutal tally of lives cut short. Six people were killed: Levi Yitzhak Pash, 57; Yaakov Pinto, 25; Yisrael Matzner, 28; Rabbi Yosef David, 43; Rabbi Mordechai Steintzag, 79; and Sarah Mendelson, 60. Their stories reveal the human cost behind the headlines. Among them were Torah scholars deep into their studies, a newlywed husband who barely had time to start his marriage, a former American cardiologist who had shifted his life to Israel, a father of six who leaves behind a broken family, a grandmother who was a central figure in her community, and a prayer instructor guiding children at a Haredi elementary school. Most lived in Jerusalem, but Pash came in daily from the central West Bank.
The attack unfolded at a busy bus stop where commuters were trapped in a flash of chaos. Two Palestinian gunmen from nearby West Bank villages stepped out and opened fire, spraying bullets into the crowd. Shards of glass from buses and cars added to the injuries as people scrambled for cover. Seven were left in critical condition, while others suffered less severe wounds, many from flying debris.
This wasn’t an abstract act of violence—it was a surgical strike on the rhythms of daily life, where ordinary people waiting for a bus became targets in a war that keeps spilling into the heart of Jerusalem.
Families are left to bury loved ones while others hold vigil at hospital beds, waiting to see if those badly wounded will pull through. The bus stop at Ramot Junction is back to being a utilitarian transit point, but it will never look the same to those who were there when the shooting started. Lead flying by your skull has a funny way of embedding memories forever.
The Scene: Speed, Terror, and Return Fire
Dashcam video and eyewitness accounts show the rapid arc of the assault: the shooters arrive, the bus doors open, and the first bursts of gunfire send commuters diving between cars. Within seconds, an ultra-Orthodox squad commander from the IDF’s Hasmonean Brigade and armed civilians close the distance and neutralize both attackers. The speed of that response likely prevented a larger death toll in a confined kill zone of steel, glass, and nowhere to run.
The residents of Jerusalem have grown used to violence and have no qualms about fighting fire with fire.
Numbers in Flux, but the Story is Consistent
As is common with these incidents, initial casualty figures varied as first responders triaged and hospitals updated statuses. By afternoon, officials converged on six killed and at least 11–12 wounded, with some outlets reporting totals rising toward 20 as additional injuries were tallied. That early variance tracks with typical mass-casualty reporting windows; the through-line—deadliest Jerusalem attack in years—didn’t change.
Rapid Israeli Response
Within hours, the IDF cordoned the villages of Qatanna and Qubeiba, conducting searches and arrests as the security establishment hunted facilitators. The broader West Bank posture tightened: more checkpoints, more raids, more friction. Politically, hard-line voices renewed calls for sweeping measures, while others pressed to avoid collective punishment that could trigger a wider escalation.
Claims, praises, and condemnations
Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad praised the attack but did not claim responsibility. The Palestinian Authority condemned violence against civilians. Internationally, allied capitals denounced the shooting while urging restraint—diplomatic boilerplate verbiage that lands differently when blood is still fresh on the asphalt.
The Weapons and the Method
The recovered “Carlo” guns matter. They’re improvised, cheap, and devastating at close range—tied to a cottage industry of illegal workshops that has fed a cycle of lone-actor and small-cell attacks since 2016. The attackers reportedly combined that with at least one blade, a pattern meant to extend lethality if the guns jam or run dry.
Improvised guns + crowded choke point + morning rush is a brutally effective recipe, foiled here only by rapid return fire.
Why This Attack Hits a Nerve
Jerusalem is layered with vulnerable choke points—bus stops, light-rail platforms, highway junctions. Ramot Junction has been targeted before, including a deadly vehicle-ramming in 2023. Monday’s shooting revives that muscle memory and the policy argument it fuels: armed civilian rapid responders versus the risks of flooding streets with guns.
Expect a renewed push to expand civilian carry and volunteer security cadres; the national security minister has already framed the day’s quick neutralization as proof that “weapons save lives.”
What to Watch for Next
- Arrests & networks: Whether Shin Bet peels back a facilitation chain—guns, transport, safe houses—will shape the tempo of West Bank raids in the coming days.
- Copycats: Successful close-range ambushes can spawn imitators; police posture around transit nodes will spike accordingly.
- Diplomacy vs. escalation: Each attack inside Jerusalem reverberates far beyond the city limits, complicating ceasefire diplomacy while hardening domestic lines ahead of any larger operation.