One person was killed and 18 others injured in bomb attacks at two bus stops in the greater Jerusalem area. Among them are several seriously injured, as the Israeli rescue service Magen David Adom (MDA) announced on Wednesday. The police spoke of the suspicion of a combined attack. Outgoing Prime Minister Jair Lapid wanted to hold an emergency meeting with police and military leaders at noon. According to media reports, the dead man was a 16-year-old. In the past there have been repeated attacks by militant Palestinian organizations in Jerusalem.
The first explosion occurred early in the morning at a bus stop on the outskirts of the city, injuring eleven people. Shortly after, there were reports of another explosion at a bus stop in Ramot, north of the city. Rescue workers took care of three injured people there. In addition, according to the information, four other patients with stress symptoms were treated in the hospital.
Remote detonation reports
Police said the search for suspects is ongoing. According to media reports, there are indications that the explosive devices were detonated from afar. As the Jerusalem Post reported, they were filled with nails and screws.
Initially, no group claimed responsibility for the attacks. However, the Palestinian organization Hamas, which rules in the Gaza Strip, praised it in a statement as a “heroic operation”. The attacks are “the result of the ongoing crimes committed by the occupation and the settlers against Palestinians”.
The Israeli MP Joav Ben-Zur from the strictly religious Shas party spoke of a “return to the horror and the difficult and bloody days of the second Palestinian uprising Intifada”. Far-right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir said those responsible had to pay a “price for terror”. Among other things, he called for a return to targeted killings and a tightening of the prison conditions for militant Palestinians in Israel. “We have to form a government as soon as possible,” said Ben-Gvir, who is currently calling for the Ministry of Internal Security in the coalition negotiations. “Terror will not wait.”
Last week, three Israeli men were killed in an attack near an Israeli settler town in the West Bank. According to the military, an 18-year-old Palestinian attacked several people with a knife in two places.
A spokesman for the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin said: “The heinous attacks on bus stops in Jerusalem are an attack on the peaceful everyday life of all Israelis. The terror and hatred that are intended to spread must not gain the upper hand”.
abduction of a corpse
At least 26 people have died in attacks in Israel, East Jerusalem and the West Bank this year, including several soldiers and security forces. Since the spring, Israel’s army has also been carrying out increased raids in the occupied West Bank.
According to the Ministry of Health in Ramallah, more than 140 Palestinians have been killed this year in connection with military operations, in clashes or in their own attacks. There are also increasing reports of violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians, Israeli activists or soldiers.
Reports of the kidnapping of the body of an Israeli citizen from a hospital in the Palestinian city of Jenin also caused a stir on Wednesday. The 18-year-old civilian died in a car accident earlier, the Israeli army said. It is now expected that she will be handed over to the Israeli authorities in a humanitarian act. The city of Jenin is considered a stronghold of militant Palestinians.
