Twin blasts shake Jerusalem, killing teen, wounding 18

Gunmen snatch body of Druze accident victim, demand return of Palestinians’ remains

Two bombs on Wednesday exploded at bus stops on Jerusalem’s outskirts killing a 17-year-old Israeli boy and wounding at least 18 other people.

Police blamed the initial blast, during morning rush hour, on an improvised device at a bus station near the city exit. The second — about 30 minutes later — hit a bus stop near a settlement east of the city. The first blast, police said, was caused by an explosive device placed inside a suitcase at the bus station crowded with passengers and soldiers.

While the Israeli security services said they had no idea who carried out the bombings, sources said the operation was conducted by the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the military wing of the Fatah movement. The security services believe that the perpetrator or perpetrators carried blue Israeli IDs allowing their entry into west Jerusalem.

Israeli ultra-nationalist lawmaker, Itamar Ben-Gvir demanded tough action, suggesting that security forces should go “house to house in search of guns and restore our deterrence power.”

Hamas spokesman Abdulatif Al-Qanoun said the organization, “blesses the operations, considering that they come within the framework of the continuous response to the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque, its Judaization, and attempts to divide it.

Tariq Ezzedine, spokesman for the Islamic Jihad movement, said the attack sent a message to Israeli leaders and settlers that, “all the criminal policies of your government will not protect you from the blows of the Palestinian people’s resistance.”

Tensions are running high in the northern West Bank city of Jenin which has seen a heavy police deployment after gunmen from the Jenin Brigade seized the body of a young Druze from Haifa who died on Tuesday evening in a traffic accident in the city.

They demanded to exchange his body for the bodies of Palestinians killed by the Israeli army which is still holding them.

Tiran Fero, an Israeli Druze, was involved in a “serious road accident” in the northern West Bank, the Israeli military said.

An Israeli security official said, such an exchange would not take place. Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said: “If Tiran’s body is not returned, the kidnappers will pay a heavy price.”

UN envoy to the Middle East peace process, Tor Wennesland, and the Palestinian Authority are trying to diffuse the situation. However, there has been no progress in efforts to recover Fero’s body.