There were no reported injuries in the explosions, which the Israeli defense minister said was a "serious attempted terrorist attack". Three buses exploded near Tel Aviv and bombs were found on two others on Thursday night in what is being investigated as a coordinated attack. All of the explosions occurred in parked, empty buses across the central city of Bat Yam, located just south of Tel Aviv. There were no injuries, per the Israel Police, and Danny Levy, the police commissioner, was on site where one of the explosions took place.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was "receiving regular updates from his military secretary on the explosive device incident in Gush Dan and will shortly hold a security situation assessment. At least one of the bombs bore a note, in Arabic and Hebrew, that stated "revenge from the Tulkarem refugee camp," a reference to the terrorist hotbed where security forces have been conducting operations, Channel 12 News reported.
Five explosive devices, all with timers set to go off simultaneously, were found in what was intended to be a "strategic terrorist attack," per Channel 12, which cited security sources. Israel Katz, the defense minister, directed the IDF to increase "the intensity of activities to thwart terrorism in the Tulkarm refugee camp and in the refugee camps in Judea and Samaria in general" following what he called "serious terrorist attacks attempted" in the Tel Aviv area on Thursday night.
The Israel Security Agency Shin Bet was reportedly called to the scenes, and all bus drivers in the Tel Aviv metropolitan area have been instructed to search their vehicles for possible explosive devices.
Miri Regev, the Israeli transportation minister, instructed the National Public Transport Authority to "stop and inspect all buses, heavy trains and light rails and act in accordance with the instructions of the Shin Bet and the police. Israeli security forces at the scene of a possible bus bombing in Bat Yam, central Israel, Feb. Photo by Flash Two bombs were detonated on two buses that were empty," Zvika Brot, the mayor of Bat Yam, told local media. He added that "there are suspicions of an additional bomb.
