Israel Arrests Islamic Jihad Suspects In Connection With Bus Bomb
Israeli authorities said on Thursday they had arrested four suspected members of the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad in connection with a bomb attack on a bus in a Tel Aviv suburb last month.
The passengers, alerted to a suspicious bag, evacuated the bus minutes before the bomb went off on Dec. 22. A police explosives expert was lightly wounded in the blast, which was powerful enough to blow out the vehicle’s windows.
Israel’s Shin Bet security agency said in a statement that four Palestinians from the West Bank town of Bethlehem had been arrested – three suspected of preparing the bomb, one of bringing it to the bus.
One of the first three is a member of the Palestinian police force, said the statement, which came after a court lifted a gag order on the case. Ten other people have been arrested for “infrastructure activities”, it said without giving details, and the investigation is continuing.