JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Two Palestinian gunmen killed six people at a bus stop in Jerusalem today. It was the deadliest Palestinian attack on Israeli civilians in nearly a year. The attack came right after the U.S. presented a new proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza. We have more details now from NPR's Daniel Estrin. He's on the line from Tel Aviv. Hi there.
DANIEL ESTRIN, BYLINE: Hi, Juana.
SUMMERS: Daniel, start by telling us what happened today in Jerusalem.
ESTRIN: Israeli authorities say those two Palestinian gunmen stood at the doors of a bus that had stopped at a bus stop, and they opened fire. And videos show crowds of people waiting outside at this bus stop suddenly running away. This was at a major intersection in northern Jerusalem on a road leading to Jewish settlements in the East Jerusalem area. An Israeli soldier and a civilian returned fire and killed the gunmen, according to Israel. These were two men in their early 20s who committed the attack. Their victims included two rabbis and a woman, according to Israeli media, and there were also others wounded in serious condition from gunshot wounds. No group claimed responsibility for this attack, but Hamas praised the attackers as heroic resistance fighters. The Palestinian Authority president - he's the internationally recognized Palestinian leader - said he condemned the general targeting of Palestinian and Israeli civilians.
SUMMERS: Daniel, how is Israel responding?
ESTRIN: Israeli troops have encircled villages in the area of the West Bank where the gunmen came from. Israel's defense minister said the attack would have far-reaching consequences, and he threatened to have troops invade more areas of the West Bank than they already have throughout this war. There has been an Israeli military crackdown throughout the war in the West Bank. There have been record-high detentions of Palestinians. Settler violence has been on the rise, and there's a severe financial crisis with Israel withholding funds from the Palestinian Authority. So there have been warnings among Israeli officials concerned about violence erupting in the West Bank.
SUMMERS: Daniel, as we mentioned, this happened just after the White House presented a new proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza. What can you tell us about it?
ESTRIN: I spoke to a person briefed on the proposal who requested anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly about it. They told me that the U.S. is proposing that Hamas release all of its hostages on Day 1 of a ceasefire in Gaza and that there'd be an immediate negotiation toward ending the war and that in exchange Israel would not go ahead with its plans to occupy Gaza City. Israel has said it's seriously considering this U.S. proposal, but a senior Hamas official is calling this proposal a humiliating surrender document. So this U.S. effort may not be successful.
SUMMERS: And in the meantime, the war in Gaza goes on, and Israel is now focusing its offensive on Gaza City. Tell us the latest there.
ESTRIN: Well, just in the last few days, Israeli airstrikes have leveled several multistory buildings in Gaza City. Israel gave advanced warnings and accused Hamas of planting explosive devices or using these buildings as observation towers. Gaza's civil defense group says huge tent camps for displaced families surrounding these buildings - those tent camps were destroyed in these strikes. NPR's Anas Baba captured the aftermath of today's strike. It destroyed a 12-story office building. He filmed people caught in huge rolling clouds of debris. You see people caked in white dust, people trying to salvage what they could from their tents. And Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel today warned Palestinians to get out of Gaza City ahead of an Israeli ground invasion.
SUMMERS: That's NPR's Daniel Estrin in Tel Aviv. Thank you.
ESTRIN: You're welcome.
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