Two die in Jerusalem bus shooting

A wounded teenager is carried from a bus that had been riddled with bullets

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- A boy and a girl were killed and several dozen people injured when at least one Palestinian gunman wielding an M-16 rifle opened fire on a bus Sunday.

The two dead were identified by authorities as Shoshana Ben Yishai, 16. who was born in the United States, and Menashe Regev, 14.

Police said one of the gunmen, an Islamic Jihad activist from the West Bank City of Hebron, was shot dead by a policeman, a soldier and a civilian. Two other people who may have been involved in the shooting escaped, police said.

There were 12 wounded who are still in hospital. In all, there were 52 injured, including those suffering from shock.

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The gunfire broke out at the height of rush hour in the French Hill neighborhood in northeast Jerusalem.

The attack followed a day in which Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer had said Israeli forces might pull out of Palestinian areas they have occupied in recent weeks.

The Palestinian news agency said the Palestinian Authority condemned the attack and said authorities have been ordered to do all they can to apprehend those responsible.

Earlier Sunday, Israeli helicopters attacked three Palestinian targets in northern Gaza in response to the firing of mortar bombs in the area over the weekend and last week, the Israel Defense Forces said.

The attacks came a day after Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, cancelled a trip to the United States.

An Israeli spokesman says Sharon postponed the visit, which had been due to take place on November 11, because of the security situation in the region.

His foreign minister Shimon Peres and Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat had shaken hands at a conference in Majorca on Saturday, but no negotiations had taken place.

--CNN Jerusalem Bureau Chief Mike Hanna contributed to this story.