GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — An Israeli-declared temporary cease-fire and troop withdrawals slowed violence in the Gaza war Monday, though an attack on an Israeli bus that killed one person in Jerusalem underscored the tensions still simmering in the region.
Several cease-fires have broken down during the 3½-week war, including Friday, when an internationally negotiated truce collapsed amid violence and mutual recrimination between Israel and Hamas.
But with Hamas rocket fire tapering off over the past 24 hours and Israel's ground operation in Gaza winding down, violence in a war that officials say has killed more than 1,880 Palestinians and more than 60 Israelis appeared, for the moment, to be waning.
The lull was broken by the Jerusalem assault, which saw a man ram the front end of a construction excavator into an Israeli bus. Police described the incident as a "terrorist attack," indicating Palestinian involvement.
The attack occurred on a main thoroughfare near Jerusalem's light-rail line. The area is located near the unofficial line between Jewish West Jerusalem and east Jerusalem, the section of the city captured by Israel in 1967 and which is home to most of the city's Arab population. Israeli media said the attacker came from an Arab area of the city.
Israel's Channel 10 TV showed cellphone video of what it said was the attack, with the yellow excavator slamming its large shovel into the bus. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said a police officer in the area opened fire and killed the attacker. A pedestrian also was killed, said Jerusalem district police chief Yossi Piranti.
In the past, Palestinian attackers have gone on deadly rampages with bulldozers in Jerusalem traffic.
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