JERUSALEM,Israel (Reuters) – A bomb blew up a bus and set fire to another in Jerusalem on Monday (April 18), wounding 21 people in an attack that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu linked to a six-month-old wave of Palestinian street violence.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility from any armed Palestinian factions for the blast. Israeli officials declined to assign direct blame, saying only that two of the casualties had not yet been identified and may have been bombers.
Suicide bombings on Israeli buses were a hallmark of the Palestinian revolt of 2000-2005 but have been rare since. With Palestinians carrying out less organised stabbing, car-ramming and gun attacks since October, Israel has braced for escalation.
“This afternoon in Jerusalem two buses burnt up in a terrorist attack… We will locate those who prepared this terrorist bomb. We will reach those who dispatched them. we will also reach those who stand behind them. we will settle this goal with these terrorists. We are in a protracted struggle against terror – knife terror, shooting terror, bomb terror and also tunnel terror,” Netanyahu said in a speech, speaking hours after Israel announced its discovery of an underground passage dug by Hamas militants from Gaza.
Police initially said they were looking at the possibility that a technical malfunction caused the fire that consumed two buses on Derech Hebron road, in an area of southwest Jerusalem close to the boundary with the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Israeli police spokesman, Micky Rosenfeld said that an explosive device went off and caused the explosion.
“The Israeli national police are continuing the investigation into the explosion that took place on the bus here in Jerusalem. What we have confirmed until now is that there was an explosive device that went off and caused that explosion and 21 people to be injured on the two buses that were next to each other at the time. Heightened security is continuing in and around in Jerusalem and we are still continuing the investigation in order to determine if it was a terrorist attack or not. There is still two people injured in the hospital that we want to question, they are still receiving medical treatment and at the moment, heightened security is continuing across Jerusalem with police patrolling different areas to prevent and respond to any possible incidents or terrorist attacks,” he said.
In the last half-year, Palestinian street attacks have killed 28 Israelis and two visiting U.S. citizens. Israeli forces have killed at least 191 Palestinians, 130 of whom Israel says were assailants. Many others were shot dead during clashes and protests.