Several buses exploded in various locations across central Israel on Thursday evening in a planned mass terror bombing attempt. At least three bombs exploded buses in the area of Bat Yam, Israel Police said.The initial assessment from the security establishment is that the plan for the attack came from Iran, and was carried out by Hamas terrorists from the West Bank. Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) identified Iranian involvement in the West Bank by supplying weapons, training terrorists to carry out attacks, and assembling explosive devices, according to Maariv.Iran also transferred large amounts of money to terror cells in West Bank, Maariv added.The bombs were set to explode at "around 9 or 10am, but were set incorrectly," according to Maariv, and were composed of non-standard explosive material, including fertilizer and urea.
Three bombs exploded, two were disabled.
Outside October 7, this would almost certainly have been the worst terror attack in Israel's history.
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The worst bus bombing during the second intifada was the Shmuel Hanavi bombing in August 2003, which killed 23 and wounded 130. Judging from the photos of the buses that exploded on Thursday night, the force of these explosions were far higher than the second intifada bus bombs. TI don't see how anyone could have survived these blasts. Five simultaneous explosions could have killed at hundreds of people.
Before October 7, the worst terror attack was the Coastal Road massacre which involved bombs and shootings, killing 38.
This is a huge deal, somewhat overshadowed by the Bibas family news. An investigation must occur to see how the bombs were smuggled on without anyone (save one passenger) noticing.
That the attack was foiled is nothing short of a miracle. But Israel's response must be as harsh as if it had succeeded.
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