Sharon comments on the shooting “a sinful act by a bloodthirsty terrorist.
This terror incident is a deliberate attempt to harm the relations between the citizens of Israel. Terror between civilians is the most dangerous thing for the future of Israel and its democratic stability”
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A Jewish Israeli man in an Israel Defense Forces uniform opened fire on bus passengers in a Druze neighborhood of the Israeli Arab town of Shfaram Thursday afternoon. Four people were killed and 12 wounded, two of them moderately. The gunman was killed by a mob that boarded the bus after the shooting.
The police sent reinforcements to the north of the country, fearing possible riots in Arab towns. Some of the officers were flown in from the Jerusalem and West Bank districts via IDF helicopters to reach the region as quickly as possible. Police also began mobilizing patrol vehicles, police helicopters and mounted police in order to disperse any violent demonstrations.
In addition, the IDF has raised the alert level in parts of the West Bank, fearing riots.
The Israeli Arab Follow-Up Committee announced a general strike Thursday and called for a protest rally Friday in Nazareth.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas condemned the attack, with Sharon calling it “a sinful act by a bloodthirsty terrorist.”
The attacker - Tzuberi, 19 - was a newly religious man, an IDF deserter from Rishon Letzion who recently moved to the West Bank settlement of Tapuah. He was an activist in the outlawed extreme-right Kach movement and went AWOL a month ago to protest the disengagement plan.
Magen David Adom ambulances evacuated the wounded to Rambam Medical Center in Haifa.
Avtihaj Salameh, a passenger on Egged bus 165 at the time of the shooting, said that when the bus, which set out from Haifa, entered Shfaram, the driver asked passengers to request that the man dressed in an army uniform come up to him. The driver asked the man if he hadn’t made a mistake, and whether he really intended to reach Shfaram.
According to Salameh, the gunman stood by the driver for a few minutes. When the bus entered the Druze neighborhood, Salameh rang the bell signaling that she wanted to get off at the next stop, and stood by the rear door of the bus. She said that at that moment, the gunman, who was standing by the driver, opened fire inside the bus.
The shooting continued for more than five minutes, until youths, among them a security guard, arrived and gained control of the gunman.
Shortly after the shooting, a mob boarded the bus and attacked Tzuberi, killing him.