Europe, UN and world leaders urge ceasefire after deadly attack in Jerusalem
The European Commission has condemned Monday’s deadly shooting attack in east Jerusalem, stressing that it highlights the need for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
The shooting occurred on Monday morning at an intersection in the Ramot neighbourhood, in the Israeli-occupied part of Jerusalem. The death toll has risen to six, with 10 people injured, some seriously, according to the Israeli rescue service Magen David Adom. Police confirmed the perpetrators of the attack had been neutralised.
"Civilians on both sides, Palestinians and Israelis, have been suffering for a long time," said Anouar El Anouni, spokesperson for the EEAS, the European diplomatic service. "It is high time to break this cycle of violence."
Deaths condemned
Belgium’s Foreign minister, Maxime Prévot, posted on X: "I condemn the deaths of at least four Israelis and a dozen others injured in Jerusalem after gunmen opened fire in a bus. I express my sincere condolences to their families. The illegal use of violence both in Israel and in Palestine must cease, to urgently find the way back to peace."
French president Emmanuel Macron also urged an end to "the spiral of violence". Writing on X, he said: "Only a political solution will bring back peace and stability for all in the region." He condemned the attack and expressed his condolences to the families of the victims and the Israeli people.
The call for de-escalation was echoed in Geneva, where UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk condemned what he described as the "genocidal rhetoric" of senior Israeli leaders regarding Gaza.
"I am appalled by the open use of genocidal rhetoric and the shameful dehumanisation of Palestinians by senior Israeli officials," Türk said at the opening of the 60th session of the UN Human Rights Council. According to him, Israel is committing "war crime after war crime" in the Gaza Strip.
He urged the international community to stop "the flow of weapons to Israel" and to "exert maximum pressure to secure a ceasefire, the release of hostages and arbitrarily detained people, and access to sufficient humanitarian aid in Gaza".
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accompanied by security officials, visited the site of the attack. The Times of Israel reported that the assailants were Palestinians from the Ramallah area in the West Bank, though security services said their identities were still being investigated.
Following the attack, access roads were immediately closed. "A security officer and a civilian who were at the scene responded immediately, returned fire, and neutralised the perpetrators," police said.
Eyewitnesses reported chaos at the scene. A guard at a nearby bus station reported that two armed men forced their way onto a bus and opened fire. "The bus is riddled with bullets at the front," he said, adding that one of the attackers was also carrying a knife.
In the aftermath, military barricades between Jerusalem and Ramallah were closed to traffic, affecting nearby Palestinian villages. Reports also indicated that Israeli forces carried out a raid in Qalandia, north of Jerusalem.
Members of Israel's ZAKA search and rescue emergency services transport a body from the scene of a shooting at the Ramot road junction in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, 8 September 2025 © PHOTO MENAHEM KAHANA / AFP
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