Twin blasts in Jerusalem kill one in suspected Palestinian attack

TWO bombs exploded at bus stops on Jerusalem’s outskirts on Wednesday, killing a 16-year-old boy and wounding at least 14 other people in what appeared to be an attack by Palestinian militants, Israeli authorities said.

Police blamed the initial blast, during morning rush hour, on an improvised bomb planted near the city exit. The second some 30 minutes later - hit a junction leading to an outlying settlement.

“There has not been such a coordinated attack in Jerusalem for many years,” police spokesman Eli Levi told Army Radio.

The devices were hidden in bags, packed with nails and appeared to have been detonated remotely by mobile phone, Kan Radio said.

CCTV footage showed the moment of the first explosion with a sudden cloud of smoke billowing from the bus stop. The site, cordoned off by emergency services, was strewn with debris.

Ambulance services said 12 people were taken to hospital from the first blast and three were wounded in the second. A 16-year-old CANADIANPAKISTAN’S

Israeli national succumbed to his injuries.

The United Nations, the European Union, United States and Canada condemned the attacks.

“Terrorism is a deadend that accomplishes absolutely nothing,” the U.S. Embassy said on Twitter.

Benjamin Netanyahu, now negotiating with allies from religious and right-wing parties to form a new government after elections, said he would do everything to restore security.

We still have a battle against terror that has lifted its head again,” the veteran former prime minister told reporters.

In Gaza, a spokesman for Palestinian militant group Hamas praised the Jerusalem explosions but stopped short of claiming responsibility. Abdellatif Al-qanoua linked the blasts to “crimes conducted by the Occupation (Israel) and the settlers”.

The explosions, which echoed the bus bombings that were a hallmark of the Palestinian uprising of 2000-05, follow months of rising tension in the occupied West Bank after Israel launched a crackdown in response to deadly Palestinian attacks in its cities.

The coordinated blasts appeared to be a step up from a string of mostly Palestinian lone-wolf stabbing, shooting and carramming attacks this year.

Ultra-nationalist Israeli lawmaker Itamar Bengvir, one of Netanyahu’s likely coalition partners, demanded tough action, saying security forces should go “house to house in search of guns and restore our deterrence power.”