Eight injured as gunman opens fire at Jerusalem bus

TEL AVIV: A week after violence flared up between Israel and militants in Gaza, atleast eight people were injured early Sunday when a gunman opened fire at a bus near Jerusalem's Old City, media reports said citing police and medics.

Following the attack, the victims were taken to the hospital. The Israeli health officials treating the wounded people informed that two of the victims are in serious condition.

The shooting incident took place as the bus which was attacked by the gunman was waiting in a parking lot near the Western Wall. The Western Wall is considered the holiest site where Jews can pray, reported CBS News.

To begin investigations into the perpetuated violence, Israeli police said forces were dispatched to the scene. The forces also pushed into the nearby Palestinian neighbourhood of Silwan pursuing the suspected attacker.

The attack in Jerusalem followed a tense week between Israel and Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said as many as 51 people were killed in Gaza during the most recent round of fighting between Israel and Gaza-based militants, including 24 from the Jihad terror group.

On August 7, the Palestine Islamic Jihad (PIJ) active in the Gaza Strip announced that it had reached a cease-fire agreement with Israel. Israel also confirmed the Egyptian-brokered deal that ends the Israeli airstrikes and the barrage of Palestinian rockets.

IDF spokesman Ran Kochav said that the military believes it killed 24 terrorists from the Islamic Jihad terror group.

"More Palestinians were killed by the failed firing by Islamic Jihad than by the firing of the IDF...Lessons will be learnt" Kochav said.

The IDF launched an operation "Breaking Dawn" against the Palestinian movement of Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip and carried out missile strikes, initially killing 10 people and injuring over 50, which ended with a ceasefire.

The military said that approximately 1,100 rockets were fired toward Israel by terrorists in the Gaza Strip. Approximately 200 rockets fell short of their targets and landed in the Gaza Strip, it added.

The IDF carried out strikes on approximately 170 targets linked to Palestinian Islamic Jihad, including senior officials and activists of the terror group.

The Islamic Jihad organization is aligned with Hamas, but often acts independently. Both are regarded as terrorist organizations by the majority of Western countries.

Meanwhile, the United Nations Security Council held an emergency closed-door meeting to discuss the latest escalation between Israel and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in the Gaza Strip, as airstrikes were carried out across the Gaza Strip under Israel's operation Breaking Dawn against the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.