Firemen at the site of the bus explosion in Bat Yam. Photo: Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90.
Social media users suggested the explosions were a false flag to justify expanding Israel’s military campaign in the occupied West Bank
Two Israelis were arrested overnight on 20 February over their alleged involvement in planting explosives that detonated in empty buses in a parking lot in the Tel Aviv suburbs, Haaretz reported on 21 February.
The Israeli newspaper stated that the “two suspects have been transferred to the Shin Bet security agency for interrogation, though a court has issued a gag order on further details of the affair.”
On Thursday night, three explosive devices were set off on buses in Bat Yam at 9:00 pm. An additional device was found before it detonated in the nearby city of Holon.
Because the buses were empty, no casualties resulted.
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Police claimed the five-kilogram explosive devices were meant to detonate on Friday morning and not on Thursday night.
Bags with Arabic writing on them were found on some of the buses. A police source said that the Arabic writing on one of the bags containing an explosive device said “attack” and “Tulkarem.”
Israeli police accused the Shin Bet and army of failing to prevent the entry of explosives from the occupied West Bank.
Haim Sargrof, Commander of Israel Police’s Tel Aviv District, blamed the Shin Bet for failing to stop the attack.
“Let’s get things straight … the army stops [terrorists’] entrance [to Israel], the Shin Bet works to prevent attacks, and the police [are involved when attacks] happen, and [police] try to take care of the suspects as quickly as possible. How did this happen? Ask the Shin Bet,” Sargof said.
Although no group has taken responsibility for the attack, a statement issued by the Qassam Brigades’ Tulkarem branch on Friday night stated, “The revenge of the martyrs will not be forgotten as long as the occupier is present on our land.”
However, some social media users and Palestinian analysts have hinted at a possible false flag operation to justify escalating a siege that has ravaged the occupied West Bank for over 30 consecutive days, with many pointing to poorly written Arabic messages found on the explosive devices.
Following news of the explosions, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz quickly directed the army to “intensify operations” in the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli army announced that three battalions will be transferred to the occupied West Bank as reinforcements in its ongoing military campaign to dismantle Palestinian resistance groups – particularly in the Jenin refugee camp.
On Friday, the pastor of Bethlehem’s Lutheran Church stated that the occupied West Bank is currently experiencing one of its “darkest moments” and is becoming “a series of open-air prisons.”
“We see what’s happening in Gaza,” Rev. Munther Isaac said, “and we ask: ‘Will this be our fate too?’”
Israeli politicians are seeking to ethnically cleanse the occupied West Bank (by “encouraging” its indigenous Palestinian inhabitants to “emigrate”) while also working to annex the territory and expand permanent Jewish settlements.
