The rate of terrorism is increasing in all part of the world,and most especially in the Middle East.
A bomb blast ripped through a bus
in Jerusalem on Monday and
sparked a fire, wounding at least 21
people, Israeli police said, in an
apparent escalation in a wave of
violence.
Details were still emerging, but
police said a bomb had exploded on
one bus in a relatively isolated area
of Jerusalem, sparking a fire that
spread to another one as well as a
car.
Israeli domestic security agency
Shin Bet referred to the explosion
as a “terror attack”.
The bombing was expected to lead
to a sharp increase in security
ahead of Jewish Passover
celebrations beginning Friday
night.
If confirmed as a Palestinian
bombing, it would both reverse a
decline in a wave of violence that
erupted in October and mark an
escalation, with most of the attacks
having been stabbings.
“A professional examination of
police sappers has proven that a
bomb exploded on the back part of
the bus, resulting in the wounding
of passengers and the burning of
the bus,” a police statement.
“In addition, another bus and car
were damaged.”
An AFP journalist at the scene said
one bus was completely burnt out
while another was partially burned,
with a large contingent of
firefighters battling to extinguish
the blaze.
Police said 21 people were injured in the Jerusalem bus bomb,
with medics reporting at least two
hurt seriously. Police were
investigating whether any of the
wounded were behind the bombing of the Jerusalem bus.
Authorities initially said most of the
wounded were passengers on the
second bus, though conflicting
information later emerged.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu said “we’ll find whoever
prepared this explosive device.”
“We’ll reach the dispatchers and
those behind them. We’ll settle the
score with these terrorists. We’re in
an ongoing struggle against terror,
knife terror, shooting terror,
bombs, rockets and tunnel terror.”
The Palestinian Islamist group
Hamas, which rules the Israeli-
blockaded Gaza Strip, welcomed the
attack as “a natural response to
Zionist crimes”, but there was no
claim of responsibility for the
bombing of the Jerusalem bus.
– Security implications –
The blast struck in an area of the
city without any major buildings or
homes and which is not heavily
used by pedestrians.
The location was on Moshe Baram
Street close to the so-called Green
Line dividing mainly Jewish west
Jerusalem from mainly Palestinian
east Jerusalem.
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat called
on residents to be vigilant, “but
continue with your plans”.
“It’s part of the deep understanding
that if it’s a terror attack, they want
to deter us from our normal life,
and what we must do… is go back to
normal life as fast as possible,” he
said.
The explosion comes with tensions
high following a wave of violence
that began in October that has
killed 201 Palestinians and 28
Israelis.
Most of the Palestinians killed were
carrying out knife, gun or car-
ramming attacks, according to
Israeli authorities.
The last bomb targeting a bus in
Jerusalem dates back to 2011, when
a British tourist was killed.
In Tel Aviv, a bomb exploded on an
empty bus in 2013 in what Israeli
authorities called a “terrorist”
attack.
Suicide bombings were frequent
during the second Palestinian
intifada between 2000-2005.
Daniel Katzenstein, a first
responder with the United Hatzalah
medical service, said when he
arrived on the scene “we saw a pile
of smoke that was reminiscent of
the bus bombings in the early
2000s.”
“There were many people far too
dangerously close to the bus when it
was burning. Our first task was to
get them to a safe place and to
begin to treat them,” he said.
Speaking before the bomb was
confirmed, police spokesman Micky
Rosenfeld said “if it was a terrorist
attack, the implications are very
great in terms of security on the
ground”.
Attacks have steadily declined in
recent weeks, though there have
been concerns the Passover holiday
could lead to a new surge in
violence.
Many analysts say Palestinian
frustration with Israeli occupation
and settlement building in the West
Bank, the complete lack of progress
in peace efforts and their own
fractured leadership have fed the
recent unrest.
Israel blames incitement by
Palestinian leaders and media as a
main cause of the violence.
