Israel bus explosion: Police points to terrorists as suspects

Suspected terror attack in Tel Aviv

Israeli Police have pointed out terrorists as suspected persons for an explosion on the southern edge of Tel Aviv on Thursday.

Recall that diasporadigitalmedia had reported that three empty buses which were parked in the city of Bat Yam in southern Tel Aviv exploded on Thursday night.

While there were no casualties, police sources said that devices on two other buses failed to explode.

Local media reported that one of these carried a message referring to “revenge” for a recent Israeli raid on a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the Israeli military to carry out “an intensive operation against centres of terrorism” in the West Bank in response.

Footage on social media showed at least one bus on fire, with a large plume of smoke rising above.

Police spokesperson Aryeh Doron speaking shortly after the explosions, urged the public to be on high alert.

On Israel’s Channel 12 TV Doron said, “We may be lucky if indeed the terrorists set these timers to the wrong hour. But it’s too early to determine”.

In a separate televised briefing with AFP news agency, police commander Haim Sargarof cited similarities between the devices used to set off the blasts and those previously found in the West Bank, where Israel has been carrying out months of raids against militants.

A local media reported that one of the unexploded mechanisms, weighing 5kg (11lbs), carried an inscription “Revenge from Tulkarm”, an apparent reference to a recent Israeli military raid on a refugee camp in northern West Bank.

An Israeli news site Haaretz reported that following the explosions, the Palestinian militant group Tulkarm Brigade released a statement which read “Revenge for the martyrs will not be forgotten as long as the occupier sits on our land”,

The statement did not claim responsibility for the attack.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have for months been carrying out raids against Palestinian militant groups in the West Bank, especially focusing around Tulkarm and Jenin in the north.

Israeli forces have intensified their raids and hundreds of Palestinians have been killed.

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