- UPDATES:
- IDF launches operation in West Bank after bus explosions
- The police are investigating the bombing as a terrorist attack
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered a military incursion in the West Bank after three empty buses exploded in quick succession in parking lots in Tel Aviv on Thursday night.
- Third Blast also reported short while ago
TEL AVIV (Agencies): Israeli police are responding to reports of a bus explosion in Bat Yam, a suburb south of Tel Aviv. The incident occurred on Thursday evening, with the bus reportedly on fire in a parking lot.
“Numerous police forces are on the scene, investigating the circumstances,” a police spokesperson said. There have been no reports of casualties at this stage, police added.
According to reports, bombs exploded at two bus depots in the Bat Yam district. The first blast occurred at a bus parking lot near the city’s stadium, followed by a second explosion at another nearby lot. Both incidents are being investigated as a suspected attempt at a combined terror bombing. The Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security service, is involved in the investigation, and all buses in the Tel Aviv metropolitan area have been instructed to conduct searches of the vehicles.
The Bat Yam Municipality stated that “miraculously, the buses arrived at the parking lots a moment before the explosion”. The investigation is ongoing, and authorities are working to determine the cause and motive behind the explosions.
This breaking news story is being updated, and more details will be published as they become available.