The latest attack on the Jewish settlement of Emmanuel stunned a community still trying to come to terms with an ambush seven months earlier, in which 10 people died.

"My first reaction was I couldn't believe it was Emmanuel again," a social worker from the settlement told BBC News Online.

Two terrorists were shooting on the bus - people fell on the floor, one on top of the other

Emmanuel resident

"We have been trying to improve security here after the last attack and did not expect it to happen again," she said.

The woman, who did not want to be named, said she knew all of the victims.

"It's sad, very, very sad," she said. "People are in shock here and are trying to find out where their family are.

"People are looking for their loved ones, they don't know if they've been hurt. Some of the people who were killed have not yet even been identified," she said.

Passengers shot

Eyewitnesses said two or three Palestinians dressed as Israeli soldiers set off a bomb beside a bus at the entrance to the settlement.

Passengers were shot as they fled the bus

As passengers escaped from the vehicle, the attackers sprayed them with automatic gunfire, survivors said.

"The bus exploded," said the woman.

"Two terrorists were shooting on the bus - people fell on the floor, one on top of the other, it was terrible."

The attack was almost identical to the ambush in December, when gunmen bombed a bus outside Emmanuel, then shot survivors and rescue workers.

"What does it mean to be shot at?" asked the woman. "Why are we shot at in the middle of the week?

"People here are very afraid," she said,

"People want to live here peacefully but they feel like they're living in the middle of a war."