Three buses in a parking lot exploded in Israel on Thursday night in what appears to have been a terrorist attack. No one was injured. Several other bombs were reportedly discovered on other buses, according to TPS-IL, an Israeli news agency.
Israeli officials have ordered all bus and train services halted while all vehicles are inspected for bombs following the three bus explosions. Three public buses exploded on Thursday night at around 8:30 PM as they sat at a bus depot in Bat Yam, a city located just south of Tel Aviv.
Firefighters arrived on the scene and put out the fires. The buses were empty at the time and no one was wounded.
FATHER OF HAMAS’ YOUNGEST HOSTAGES IS RELEASED — BUT HIS FAMILY REMAINS IN HAMAS CAPTIVITY
Police search a bus that ignited in Holon after three of them exploded on Thursday night. (Images by Yossi Zeliger/TPS-IL)
Two other explosive devices were found under other buses after the police and Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security service, asked drivers to stop buses and check for devices.
A preliminary police investigation determined that all the explosive devices were identical and equipped with a timer set to detonate on Friday, authorities said. The explosions took place just hours after Hamas released the bodies of four Israeli hostages held in Gaza. The hostages were the first eight that Israel believes are dead and to be returned during the current phase of the ceasefire.
“We need to determine if a single suspect placed explosives on a number of buses, or if there were multiple suspects,” Police spokesman Haim Sargrof said.
Related Post
The buses had finished their routes and were in a parking lot, said Tzvika Brot, mayor of Bat Yam. He said one of the unexploded bombs was being defused in the nearby town of Holon.
Following a security assessment with Israeli officials, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered an “intensive operation” against “centers of terrorism” in the West Bank and for authorities to “increase preventative activity” against possible attacks in Israeli cities.
Police search in Holon after several parked buses exploded Thursday night. (Images by Yossi Zeliger/TPS-IL)
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it was working with the Israeli Police and Shin Bet on the investigation.
“Following an assessment of the situation, the IDF’s intensified anti-terror activity in Judea and Samaria continues and will be focused according to intelligence findings,” the IDF posted on X, using the biblical name for the West Bank. “At the same time, the IDF has blocked entry to Judea and Samaria in certain areas accordingly.”
On Thursday night, the IDF carried out airstrikes on the Lebanon-Syria border, with fighter jets targeting border crossings used by Hezbollah to smuggle weapons.
“These attempts constitute a blatant violation of the ceasefire understandings between Israel and Lebanon,” the IDF said.
Israeli forces reportedly targeted a truck carrying weapons at the al-Wawiyat crossing in Wadi Khaled, Lebanon.
Israel has also conducted multiple military offensives against Palestinian militants in the West Bank following a Jan. 19 ceasefire.
An Israeli police officer inspects the scene where police have reported a series of explosions on buses in what they said appeared to be a militant attack in Bat Yam, central Israel on Thursday. No injuries were reported. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Following the bus bombings, Defense Minister Israel Katz instructed the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to ramp up operations in the West Bank.
“In light of the severe terror attack attempts [in the Tel Aviv area] by Palestinian terror organizations against the civilian population in Israel, I instructed the IDF to increase the intensity of the counterterrorism activity in the Tulkarem refugee camp, and all the refugee camps in Judea and Samaria,” he said.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Police search in Holon after several parked buses exploded Thursday night. (Images by Yossi Zeliger/TPS-IL)
“We will hunt down the terrorists to the bitter end and destroy the terror infrastructure in the camps used as frontline posts of the Iranian evil axis,” he added.
Israeli politician Benny Gantz said Thursday’s incident “should be treated like a mega-attack.”
“We must not look at the result – but at the intention. We must not repeat the mistake of the attack that was prevented in Megiddo,” he wrote on X. “To the attempt to murder dozens of Israelis on this difficult day – we must respond not only with tactical actions – but by directly intercepting the senders and the senders’ financiers, and using powerful tools against the terrorist nests themselves. We must exact a heavy price that the terrorist organizations will not forget.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
