A Palestinian bomb attack was carried out on a bus in the

Talpiot Talpiot (, literally 'turrets' or 'magnificently built') is an Israeli neighborhood in southeastern Jerusalem, established in 1922 by Zionist pioneers. It was built as a garden suburb on land purchased by the Tel Aviv-based Palestine Land Devel ...

neighborhood in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

on 18 April 2016 at around 18:00. The bomber was a member of

Hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...

, which however did not claim responsibility. At least 21 people were injured, two critically.

Attack

The explosion, on an Egged bus #12, set an adjacent bus, which was mostly empty, and a nearby car aflame. Most of the injuries were to passengers on the #12 Egged bus. It was the first attack on a bus in Jerusalem since 2011. A police forensic team discovered remnants of a bomb in the wreckage. The investigation was under a police gag order.

Assailant

The assailant, a 19-year-old Abdul Hamid Abu Srour, lost several limbs and succumbed in hospital several days after the bombing, Police did not initially confirm whether or not one of the individuals hospitalized was the bomber. Hamas admitted that the assailant was a member of the West Bank branch of the organization, but did not claim responsibility for the bombing, it hailed the bomber as a "martyr."

Reactions

Israeli Prime Minister

Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who has served as the prime minister of Israel since 2022, having previously held the office from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime min ...

vowed retaliation; "We will locate those who prepared this explosive device. We will reach the dispatchers. We will also reach those behind them. We will settle the score with these terrorists." On the Palestinian side, reactions were mixed.

spokesman in Gaza praised the bombers, stating that it "Blesses the Jerusalem operation" and Gaza mosques welcomed the attack with announcements over their loud speakers. Another Hamas spokesman,

Husam Badran Husam Badran (born January 11, 1966) is the former leader of Hamas’s military wing in the northern West Bank. He was the orchestrator of several suicide bombings during the Second Intifada with the highest number of fatalities including the 2001 ...

said that "this attack affirms to everyone one that our people will not abandon the resistance path." Islamic Jihad praised the bombing. Palestinian President

Mahmoud Abbas Mahmoud Abbas (; born 15 November 1935), also known by the Kunya (Arabic), kunya Abu Mazen (, ), is a Palestinian politician who has been serving as the second president of Palestine and the President of the Palestinian National Authority, P ...

, however, condemned the attack, saying that "we are against all forms of terrorist activity that affect Israeli and Palestinian civilians," and that the Palestinians "want to achieve an end to the occupation and the building of settlements through diplomatic means, and through peaceful resistance."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jerusalem bus bombing 2016 in Jerusalem Suicide bombings in 2016 Hamas suicide bombings of buses Islamic terrorist incidents in 2016 April 2016 crimes in Asia Murder in Jerusalem Terrorist incidents in Jerusalem in the 2010s Suicide bombings in Jerusalem 2016 road incidents in Asia