A member of the Israeli security forces walks a sniffer dog at the scene of a bus stop explosion on November 23, 2022 in Jerusalem. MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP/Getty
Jerusalem —
Wednesday, two explosions occurred at bus stops in Jerusalem, resulting in one fatality and at least fourteen injuries. According to authorities, the explosions were likely Palestinian assaults. The initial explosion occurred near a bus stop at the city’s outskirts, where commuters typically congregate while waiting for buses. The second explosion occurred in Ramot, a northern city neighborhood.
Israel’s rescue organization, Magen David Adom, said that four individuals were critically injured in the explosions. According to the police, one person died from their injuries.
The purported attacks occurred during a time of heightened Israeli-Palestinian animosity, following months of Israeli incursions in the occupied West Bank in response to a spate of 19 deadly attacks against Israelis. In recent weeks, there has been an increase in Palestinian assaults.
The violence also occurs as former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds coalition discussions following national elections and is anticipated to create Israel’s most conservative government in history.
Benjamin Netanyahu is ready to return as the next prime minister of Israel at 3:47
Itamar Ben-Gvir, an extreme politician who has advocated the death sentence for Palestinian attackers and is slated to become Netanyahu’s minister in charge of the police, stated that the assault demonstrates that Israel must adopt a stronger line against Palestinian terrorists.
At the scene of the initial blast, he stated, “We must extract a price from terror.” “We must regain authority over Israel in order to reestablish deterrence against terrorism.”
Initial police investigations indicated that explosive devices were planted at the two locations. The twin explosions happened during rush hour, and authorities shut down a portion of the main highway going out of the city, where the first explosion occurred.
On November 23, 2022, Israeli police officials investigate an explosion near a bus stop that injured at least seven individuals in West Jerusalem. Photograph by Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu Agency/Getty
Shortly after the initial explosion, surveillance footage captured debris strewn over the pavement as ambulance sirens blared. A bus in Ramot had what appeared to be shrapnel holes.
“There was a massive explosion. There are holes everywhere here “Yosef Haim Gabay, a doctor on the site when the initial explosion happened, said Israeli Army Radio. “I witnessed folks whose wounds were flowing everywhere,”
In recent years, Palestinians have committed stabbings, car-rammings, and shootings, but since the conclusion of a Palestinian uprising over two decades ago, bombing assaults have been very rare.
The Islamic terrorist group Hamas, which administers the Gaza Strip and has previously carried out suicide bombings against Israelis, lauded the perpetrators of the assaults, calling it a “heroic action,” but refrained from admitting credit.
Hamas spokesperson Abd al-Latif al-Qanua stated, “The occupation is paying for its crimes and aggression against our people.”
In reaction to the explosions, Israel announced it will close two West Bank crossings near the West Bank city of Jenin, a terrorist stronghold, to Palestinians.
This year, more than 130 Palestinians have been murdered in Israeli-Palestinian clashes in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, making 2022 the bloodiest year since 2006 in terms of Palestinian casualties.
According to the Israeli army, the majority of Palestinians slain were militants. Youths protesting the military invasions with stones and others who were not involved in confrontations have also been slain.
In recent weeks, at least five more Israelis have been slain in Palestinian assaults.
In the 1967 Middle East War, Israel took the West Bank together with east Jerusalem and the West Bank. The Palestinians desire the lands for their envisioned sovereign state.