Vehicle Collision in Israel Leaves Five Dead, Dozens Hurt

In this Wednesday, Sep. 18, 2019 file photo, Israeli police deploy near Jerusalem.  (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
In this Wednesday, Sep. 18, 2019 file photo, Israeli police deploy near Jerusalem. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
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Vehicle Collision in Israel Leaves Five Dead, Dozens Hurt

In this Wednesday, Sep. 18, 2019 file photo, Israeli police deploy near Jerusalem.  (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
In this Wednesday, Sep. 18, 2019 file photo, Israeli police deploy near Jerusalem. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

A bus collided with two vehicles on a highway in northern Israel on Wednesday, leaving five people dead and dozens more injured, according to paramedics.

The bus crashed into a truck and a taxi carrying four passengers on a twisting mountain highway in northern Israel’s upper Galilee region.

Israel’s national emergency medical service, Magen David Adom, said in a statement that four of the deceased were passengers from the taxi, including a 35-year-old woman and three children aged 15, 12 and 5.

The fifth fatality was the 45-year-old male driver of the bus. All were pronounced dead at the scene, the Associated Press reported.

According to Magen David Adom, 32 people were taken to nearby hospitals while three seriously injured victims were airlifted to a hospital in the northern city of Haifa.

In a statement, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett sent his condolences to the families of those killed, saying “the entirety of the people of Israel prays for the health of the injured.”



Israel Says it Has Secured $8.7 Billion US Aid Package

A worker is raised on a forklift at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted an apartment on al-Qaem street in Beirut's southern suburbs on September 26, 2024. (Photo by Ibrahim AMRO / AFP)
A worker is raised on a forklift at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted an apartment on al-Qaem street in Beirut's southern suburbs on September 26, 2024. (Photo by Ibrahim AMRO / AFP)
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Israel Says it Has Secured $8.7 Billion US Aid Package

A worker is raised on a forklift at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted an apartment on al-Qaem street in Beirut's southern suburbs on September 26, 2024. (Photo by Ibrahim AMRO / AFP)
A worker is raised on a forklift at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted an apartment on al-Qaem street in Beirut's southern suburbs on September 26, 2024. (Photo by Ibrahim AMRO / AFP)

Israel said on Thursday it had secured an $8.7 billion aid package from the United States package to support its ongoing military efforts.

The package includes $3.5 billion for essential wartime procurement, which has already been received and earmarked for critical military purchases, and $5.2 billion designated for air defense systems including the Iron Dome anti-missile system and an advanced laser system.

Israel is currently fighting on two fronts, against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.