A double bomb attack in Jerusalem claimed the life of a young Israeli-Canadian and left about fifteen injured, Wednesday, November 23, according to the Israeli police. Such a modus operandi had not been used for several years in the Holy City.
A first explosion at a bus stop outside Jerusalem left twelve injured, four of whom are in serious condition. While the police and rescuers were on site, a second explosion injured at least three others in the same area, according to the emergency services.
“Different explosive charges were placed in the two places. We suspect it was a coordinated attack.”, Israeli police said in a statement. According to a source close to the security services quoted by Agence France-Presse (AFP), the bombs were activated remotely. The last bomb attack in Jerusalem, a city at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, dates back to 2016, recalled the Shin Beth, the Israeli internal security service. The United States and the European Union condemned Wednesday’s.
“Terrorism does not wait”
The victim who died during the attack was named Aryeh Shechopek, Israeli authorities said. According to local sources quoted by AFP, he was 15 or 16 years old and his Canadian passport was in the name of Aryeh Schupak. His funeral should take place in the afternoon. “It was about a boy who had never done anything to anyone and was murdered simply because he was Jewish”declared the outgoing Prime Minister, Yaïr Lapid.
The latter chaired an emergency meeting with the heads of the security services at the army headquarters in Tel Aviv, and informed his designated successor, Benyamin Netanyahu, winner of the legislative elections of 1is November, of the situation.
The future head of government, who held the post from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021, is in talks with ultra-Orthodox and far-right parties over the formation of his new ministerial team. “We must form the government as soon as possible because terrorism does not wait”said Wednesday Itamar Ben Gvir, tenor of the far right, who is running for the ministry of public security and pleads for “targeted killings” in the fight against terrorism.
“The price of crimes and aggression”
Without claiming them, the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, in power in the Gaza Strip, welcomed the attacks, which he said were “the price of crimes and aggressions” from israel against the Palestinian people.
After a series of deadly attacks in March and April, the Israeli army carried out more than 2,000 raids in the West Bank. With the clashes they caused, these operations cost the lives of at least 125 Palestinians, an unprecedented toll for seven years, according to the United Nations (UN).
Overnight, a Palestinian was killed during clashes with Israeli forces in Nablus, according to the Palestinian health ministry. A little later, the Israeli army announced that the body of an 18-year-old Israeli civilian, member of the Druze minority, died Tuesday in a “serious road accident” in the West Bank, had been “kidnapped” in Jenin hospital in the northern West Bank, where he was pronounced dead. “He was still alive, I saw him breathing, [ses ravisseurs] disconnected him from the machine to kidnap him”the young man’s father told Ynet radio. “I ask everyone to bring my son back to me”he implored.
No claims have been made, but local sources say the body is in the hands of Palestinian fighters from a nearby refugee camp. The abductions of Israelis, dead or alive, have already enabled armed groups to obtain the release of prisoners or the return of the bodies of Palestinians killed in clashes and kept by Israel. “If Tiran’s body is not returned, the kidnappers will pay a heavy price”warned M. Lapid.