On 23 November 2022, two bomb attacks were carried out at

bus stop A bus stop is a place where buses stop for passengers to get on and off the bus. The construction of bus stops tends to reflect the level of usage, where stops at busy locations may have shelters, seating, and possibly electronic passenger ...

s on the outskirts of

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. Two civilians were killed and 46 were injured. They were the first bombings carried out on

Israeli Israeli may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel * Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel * Modern Hebrew, a language * ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008 * Guni Israeli ...

civilian Civilians under international humanitarian law are "persons who are not members of the armed forces" and they are not "combatants if they carry arms openly and respect the laws and customs of war". It is slightly different from a non-combatant, b ...

s since the 2016 Jerusalem bus bombing, in which a

suicide bomb A suicide attack is any violent attack, usually entailing the attacker detonating an explosive, where the attacker has accepted their own death as a direct result of the attacking method used. Suicide attacks have occurred throughout histor ...

er injured at least 22 people.

Background

Tensions in the area have reportedly risen between Israelis and

Palestinians Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

over the past months leading up the

explosion An explosion is a rapid expansion in volume associated with an extreme outward release of energy, usually with the generation of high temperatures and release of high-pressure gases. Supersonic explosions created by high explosives are known ...

s. A series of attacks from Palestinians reportedly killed nineteen Israelis in the spring of 2022, which had resulted in nightly raids throughout the

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

. Additional attacks from Palestinians have reportedly increased in recent weeks. More than one hundred and thirty Palestinians have been killed in Israeli-Palestinian fighting this year, with most reported by Israeli forces as militants although some civilians have been also killed, and at least eight Israelis have been killed in recent violence. It was also reported that Palestinian militants had stormed a West Bank hospital and carried out an Israeli citizen receiving treatment after a car accident, hours before the explosions.

Attack

On 23 November 2022, at 7:05 a.m., a bomb placed at a bus station near Jerusalem's main entrance,

Givat Shaul Givat Shaul ( he, גבעת שאול, lit. (''Saul's Hill''); ar, غفعات شاؤول) is a neighborhood in West Jerusalem. The neighborhood is located at the western entrance to the city, east of the neighborhood of Har Nof and north of Kirya ...

, was detonated. Thirty minutes later, a second bomb placed at a bus stop near the Ramot junction east of Jerusalem was also detonated, lightly wounding five people and damaging a bus. A bus driver who arrived at the second bombing site said that the second bomb went off after he had stopped there to drop off his passengers. The bombs were concealed in bags and were packed with shrapnel.

Victims

A 16-year-old Israeli-Canadian, Arye Schepoek, succumbed to his wounds at the

Shaare Zedek Medical Center The Shaare Zedek Medical Center ( he, מרכז רפואי שערי צדק, ''Merkaz Refu'i Sha'arei Tzedek'') (lit. "Gates of Justice") is a large teaching hospital in Jerusalem established in 1902, It affiliated with Hebrew University of Jerusal ...

. An additional twenty-three people were injured; eighteen people were wounded in the first explosion and five people were wounded in the second explosion. On 26 November, a 50-year-old Ethiopian Jewish man named Tadasa Tashume Ben Ma'ada, who had sustained severe head injuries during the bombing, succumbed to his wounds.

Perpetrators

Israeli authorities suspected that the attacks were carried out by Palestinian terrorists and coordinated by an organized

cell Cell most often refers to: * Cell (biology), the functional basic unit of life Cell may also refer to: Locations * Monastic cell, a small room, hut, or cave in which a religious recluse lives, alternatively the small precursor of a monastery w ...

. The explosives were high-quality and may were believed to have been detonated by mobile telephone. In December 2022,

Shin Bet The Israel Security Agency (ISA; he, שֵׁירוּת הַבִּיטָּחוֹן הַכְּלָלִי; ''Sherut ha-Bitaẖon haKlali''; "the General Security Service"; ar, جهاز الأمن العام), better known by the acronym Shabak ( he, ...

and Israeli police announced that they had arrested 26-year-old

Israeli Arab The Arab citizens of Israel are the largest ethnic minority in the country. They comprise a hybrid community of Israeli citizens with a heritage of Palestinian citizenship, mixed religions (Muslim, Christian or Druze), bilingual in Arabic an ...

Eslam Froukh in Jerusalem. He is a mechanical engineer by training who resided between

Ramallah Ramallah ( , ; ar, رام الله, , God's Height) is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank that serves as the ''de facto'' administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerusale ...

and

Kafr 'Aqab Kafr 'Aqab ( ar, كفر عقب) is the northernmost Palestinian Arab neighborhood in East Jerusalem. It is part of the area annexed and included in municipal Jerusalem following its occupation by Israel in 1967. This area includes an additional a ...

and is affiliated with the

Islamic State An Islamic state is a State (polity), state that has a form of government based on sharia, Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical Polity, polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a t ...

. Froukh allegedly acted alone and constructed the bombs himself with the help of online guides. He had no prior record of terrorism activity. It is suspected that Froukh sought to detonate more explosives to commit a third attack but ran into technical issues. A number of additional suspects were arrested in the days after the incident, but were all released. In June 2023, the Ramallah home of Froukh was demolished by Israeli forces.

Reactions

Hamas Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Bri ...

did not claim responsibility but praised the attacks, stating that the bombings "conveyed the message to the occupation by saying that our people will stand firm on their land and cling to the path of resistance". The bombings were also praised by the

Palestinian Islamic Jihad The Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine ( ar, حركة الجهاد الإسلامي في فلسطين, ''Harakat al-Jihād al-Islāmi fi Filastīn''), known in the West simply as Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), is a Palestinian Islamist par ...

PFLP The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine ( ar, الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين, translit=al-Jabhah al-Sha`biyyah li-Taḥrīr Filasṭīn, PFLP) is a secular Palestinian Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist an ...

, and

DFLP The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP; ar, الجبهة الديموقراطية لتحرير فلسطين, ''al-Jabha al-Dīmūqrāṭiyya li-Taḥrīr Filasṭīn'') is a secular Palestinian people, Palestinian Marxism ...

. Far-right lawmaker

Itamar Ben-Gvir Itamar Ben-Gvir ( he, אִיתָמָר בֶּן גְּבִיר; born 6 May 1976) is an Israeli lawyer and politician, who serves as the Minister of National Security. He is additionally a member of the Knesset and leader of Otzma Yehudit. He h ...

, who is expected to become the minister in charge of police under potential future Israeli Prime Minister

Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (; ; born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. He is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of ...

, called for a tougher stance from Israel on the attacks. White House Press Secretary

Karine Jean-Pierre Karine Jean-Pierre (born August 13, 1974) is a French-American political advisor and has served as the White House press secretary since May 13, 2022. She is the first Black person and the first openly lesbian woman to be White House press secre ...

stated that the Biden administration condemned the attack and that the United States had offered all appropriate assistance to the Israeli government to aid in the investigation. The US Embassy and EU Ambassador to Israel Dimiter Tzantchev have also condemned the violence.

References