Unlock free Digest editor
Roula Khalaf, editor of FT, chooses her favorite story in this weekly newsletter.
Israeli security services blamed the Palestinian militant groups for a series of bus bombings in the southern suburb of Tel Aviv, increasing the fears for the safety of public transport services in the country.
Three buses that were parked in separate warehouses were destroyed in a seemingly coordinated bombing late on Thursday, according to videos published by Israeli media showing explosions in Bat Yama, a city of majority Russian on the southern edge Tel Aviv.
The security services disarmed at least one bomb, also on the bus to Bat Yama. It is not clear whether the bus was parked or was in the service, but the Ministry of Transport ordered all public transportation so that the vehicles could be seduced by explosive devices after the first detonated at about 9pm local time.
No victims were reported, but Mayor Bat Yama Tzvik Brot told the television crew that it was a “miracle” no one was injured.
Defense Minister Israel Katz blamed militants from the west coast for attacks and instructed the army to step up Operations on occupied territory.
“I have learned the Israeli defense forces to increase the intensity of activities to prevent terrorism in the Tulkarem refugee camp, and generally in refugee camps in Judea and Samaria,” he said in a statement, using the Bible name for the West Coast.
Bus bombing were Repeating feature decades of Palestinian-Israeli conflict, especially during the second Intiphada, or uprising, 2000-05. Most are blamed for suicide bombers from Hamas and other Islamist groups.
Israeli media reported an unnamed security source, saying that bombing attacks were aimed at Friday morning, but instead, they may have been incorrectly set up in 9pm.
Buses and public transportation across the country were stopped and vehicles searched. Police reported that a disabled bomb weighed five pounds.
In the last few months, the Israeli army has spent extensive attacks in refugee camps in Jenin, Tulkarem and other Palestinian cities on the northern west coast. Operations displaced about 40,000 people
Hundreds of Palestinians of the West Coast were killed, according to local officials, from October 7, 2023. When the conflict broke out in Gaza after 1,200 people were killed during during the course Hamas’s attack on Israel.
The IDF has increased surgery on the west coast since the coast was received last month in Gaza last month.
“Prime minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu looks at the incident of accommodating bombs on buses with great seriousness and will order a strong action, “his spokesman said.
It seems that no group immediately accepted the responsibility for planting the bombs, although the so -called Tulkarem Battalion of the Hamas military wing posted a statement on its telegram channel, saying, “We will never forget to take revenge for our martyrs as long as the interest in our countries.”
Bus bombings have become less frequent in recent years. The last were double bombing at Jerusalem bus stops in November 2022. When two people were killed.
