In a devastating incident on Friday, a gunman associated with the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas opened fire on an Israeli bus near the West Bank settlement of Ariel, wounding eight individuals, including four Israeli soldiers. The attacker, identified as 46-year-old Samer Hussein by Hamas, was subsequently neutralized by Israeli forces.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed the attack, stating that the assailant fired upon the bus at the Gitti Avisar Junction, resulting in injuries and damage. Photographic and video evidence from the scene revealed multiple bullet holes riddling the bus's windshield and a severely damaged vehicle by the roadside.

The IDF confirmed the elimination of the terrorist at the scene. Hamas's military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, claimed responsibility for the attack, stating that the gunman was a member of their ranks.

In a separate tragic incident in the Gaza Strip, three Palestinian women, two of them teenagers, lost their lives in a crowd surge at a bakery. The Associated Press reported that the victims, two girls aged 13 and 17 and a 50-year-old woman, were crushed to death as people thronged to obtain bread at the al-Banna bakery in Deir al-Balah. A doctor at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital confirmed their deaths were due to suffocation caused by the overcrowding.

This tragedy follows reports of escalating food prices in Gaza, exacerbated by a recent attack on approximately 100 U.N. aid trucks transporting supplies from Israel. One resident of Deir al-Balah told the AP that the cost of flour has skyrocketed to over $100 per bag, if it can even be found.