WASHINGTON, March 6 (Reuters) - President George W. Bush said on Thursday the United States stands firmly with Israel after a Palestinian gunman attacked a Jewish religious school in Jerusalem and killed at least eight people.

"I condemn in the strongest possible terms the terrorist attack in Jerusalem that targeted innocent students at the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva," Bush said in a statement.

He said he had spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to offer condolences. "I told him the United States stands firmly with Israel in the face of this terrible attack," Bush said.

(Reporting by Tabassum Zakaria, editing by David Alexander)

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