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Three empty buses exploded in parking lots in the Tel Aviv suburbs of Bat Yam and Holon in central Israel around the same time late on February 20.
Israeli Police said that they neutralized two other unexploded devices on buses nearby. According to Hebrew media reports, those devices were discovered in Holon. Each of the devices reportedly contained five kilograms of explosives.
According to a Channel 12 news report, the devices were slated to explode on the morning of the next day, when the buses were in use, but were set off early. Giora Eiland, a former IDF operations chief, speculated that the timers were incorrectly set.
“We may be lucky if indeed the terrorists set these timers to the wrong hour,” police spokesman Aryeh Doron said. “But it’s too early to determine.”
There were no injuries reported as a result of the incidents, which the police said was a suspected “terror attack.”
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced after the incidents that he instructed the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) to ramp up its operations in the West Bank.
“In light of the severe terror attack attempts [in the Tel Aviv area] by Palestinian terror organizations against the civilian population in Israel, I instructed the IDF to increase the intensity of the counterterrorism activity in the Tulkram refugee camp, and all the refugee camps in Judea and Samaria,” he said in a statement.
The IDF announced after the statement that it was investigating the bus bombings jointly with the Shin Bet security agency and Israel Police, adding that after a fresh assessment, the IDF’s ongoing counterterrorism operation in the West Bank would be focused on specific areas per the findings of the probe.
The military also blocked several checkpoints leading into the West Bank in specific areas, and announced that it will ramp up activities in the area between the Green Line and Israel’s West Bank barrier.
Later, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the premier was receiving constant updates on the situation and held a security assessment, after which it announced that he instructed the IDF to embark on a massive operation in the West Bank against what it described as “terrorist hubs.”
It said Netanyahu also instructed the police and the Shin Bet to “increase preventative activities” in Israeli cities to prevent further attacks.
The IDF has been carrying out a large-scale operation in the northern West Bank, dubbed Operation Iron Wall, since January 21. Now, Israel will apparently use the incidents near Tel Aviv as an excuse to further up the pressure on Palestinians living in the occupied territories.
