Amid the World Cup games in Qatar, Israel has tightened the grips on Palestinian people.
According to Israeli authorities, two different blasts that shook Jerusalem city resulted in one loss and 12 injuries. The assaults early on Wednesday are claimed to be Palestinian attacks, according to Israeli police.
The blasts happened few hours after a 16-year-old Palestinian youth was slain by Israeli troops in Nablus, in the West Bank.
The first blast occurred at approximately 7am outside an Israeli bus stop along a roadway on the western entry into Jerusalem that is normally busy with passengers. Medical personnel reported that the first blast wounded seven, among whom two were in critical condition.
Less than 30 minutes later, near the Ramot crossroads in northern regions of the city, there was a second blast. Authorities characterized the second blast as a “controlled” blast. Five persons, according to officials, suffered minor injuries from shrapnel.
Alan Fisher of Al Jazeera reported from Ramot and stated that according to authorities, the first explosion was brought on by “explosives placed inside a bicycle abandoned at a bus stop.” Both blasts are thought to have been triggered remotely.
Yair Lapid, the departing prime minister, made a special announcement about the meeting with Israeli security personnel. In order to launch a probe into the explosions and look for perpetrators, Israeli officials have closed key routes and erected checkpoints across the city in the west and east.
The incident that occurred in Jerusalem “has not been seen for years,” according to the director of the Israeli police, and investigators are looking for the perpetrators. Police are currently combing the city for more potential devices, he continued.
A physician in the scene told Army Radio that there was “damage everywhere here” and that some of the injured were bleeding.
Rising Violence
Social media users posted surveillance camera footage of the initial blast.
The event occurred as tensions on the ground have risen since last year, however the exact cause is still unknown. Recent months have seen an uptick in Israeli army incursions and executions of Palestinians in towns and cities in the West Bank.
In the unlawfully occupied regions of East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip, Israel has murdered at least 200 people from the Palestinian groups. There have been 50 children in the list. So far since 2006, it has been the bloodiest year for Palestinian people.
On the Israeli part, there have also been only 25 fatalities. The death of Ahmad Amjad Shehadeh, 16, was verified by Palestinian health officials just after midnight in the same day. In Nablus, he was shot once in the heart and murdered.
Israeli military had attacked the city of Nablus in the northern West Bank to prevent Israeli settlers from entering the sensitive Joseph’s Shrine. The place is approximately one kilometer away from the city’s center.
The health ministry reported that stun grenades and bullets were used to hurt at least five other Palestinians. One of the injured, who received a gunshot to the stomach, is in critical condition.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said that it treated 22 more rubber-coated bullet wounds and scores of tear gas breathing symptoms. The occupying soldiers “targeted the Red Crescent ambulance with live ammunition,” it was said.
The explosion take place as Benjamin Netanyahu, the next prime minister, talks to far-right and ultranationalist groups about forming a new ruling coalition. In the general election this month, they gained a majority in the legislature. Right-wing legislator Itamar Ben-Gvir has demanded the death sentence for Palestinian attackers.
