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Israeli security services have blamed Palestinian militant groups for a series of bus bombings in a southern suburb of Tel Aviv, increasing fears about the safety of the country’s public transport services.
Three buses that had been parked at separate depots were destroyed in apparently co-ordinated bombings late on Thursday, according to videos posted by Israeli media showing the explosions in Bat Yam, a majority Russian-speaking town on the southern fringe of Tel Aviv.
Security services disarmed at least one more bomb, also on a bus in Bat Yam. It is not clear if that bus had been parked or was in service, but the transport ministry ordered all public transport to a halt so vehicles could be swept for explosive devices after the first detonated around 9 PM local time.
No casualties have been reported but Bat Yam’s mayor Tzvika Brot told television crews that it was a “miracle” no one had been hurt.
Defence minister Israel Katz blamed militants from the West Bank for the attacks, and instructed the army to step up operations in the occupied territory. The Israeli military is working to determine how many suspects were involved in planting the devices.
“I have instructed the Israel Defense Forces to increase the intensity of activity to thwart terrorism in the Tulkarem refugee camp and in general in the refugee camps in Judea and Samaria,” he said in a statement, using the biblical name for the West Bank.
Bus bombings were a recurrent feature of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict for decades, especially during the second intifada, or uprising, of 2000-05. Most were blamed on suicide bombers from Hamas and other Islamist groups.
Israeli media cited an unnamed security source as saying the bombings had been intended for Friday morning rush-hour, but may have been mistakenly set for 9pm instead.
Buses and public transport around the country were stopped and vehicles searched. Police reported that the disabled bomb had weighed five kilos.
Over the past few months the Israeli military has conducted extensive raids in refugee camps in Jenin, Tulkarem and other Palestinian towns in the northern West Bank. The operations have displaced some 40,000 people
Hundreds of West Bank Palestinians have been killed, according to local officials, since October 7, 2023 when conflict erupted in Gaza after 1,200 people were killed during Hamas’s attack on Israel.
The IDF has intensified operations in the West Bank since a tentative ceasefire took hold in Gaza last month.
“Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu views the incident of placing bombs on buses with great seriousness, and will order a strong action,” his spokesperson said.
No group appeared to immediately accept responsibility for planting the bombs, though the so-called Tulkarem Battalion of Hamas’s military wing released a statement on its Telegram channel, saying: “We will never forget to take vengeance for our martyrs as long as the occupation is on our lands.”
Bus bombings have become less frequent in recent years. The latest were twin bombings at Jerusalem bus stops in November 2022 when two people were killed.
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