Egypt Daily News – The Israeli General Security Service, “Shin Bet,” arrested two Israeli Jews on Friday on suspicion of blowing up empty buses in two suburbs of Tel Aviv on Thursday evening.
According to Israeli media, the suspects were transferred to Shin Bet for interrogation, while the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court issued a three-week gag order on the case. Shin Bet has not commented on the alleged arrests.
The Times of Israel, citing the Israeli radio, reported that two Jewish Israelis, one of whom is a taxi driver, were arrested on suspicion of transporting the perpetrators to the site of the Tel Aviv bus explosions.
The report added that the attackers remain at large and that investigators have video footage showing the explosives being planted.
Israel’s Channel 12 reported that police also arrested a Palestinian who was in Israel illegally. The report further noted that one of the Jewish Israeli suspects was arrested at 4:00 a.m. on Friday, about six hours after the Tel Aviv bus explosions, and was scheduled to appear in a Tel Aviv court for a remand hearing.
These arrests follow the explosion of three empty buses in parking lots in the Tel Aviv suburbs of Bat Yam and Holon on Thursday evening, as well as the discovery of two additional explosive devices in buses in Holon. No injuries were reported as a result of the blasts.
According to Israeli media, the bombs contained five kilograms of improvised explosives, and some were accompanied by written messages indicating that they were placed in response to Israeli military operations in the city of Tulkarm, in the northern occupied West Bank.
A video published by Israeli media shows new footage documenting the moment a suspect in the Tel Aviv bus bombings allegedly placed explosives inside one of the buses. According to the Israeli radio, one of the suspects left a bag containing explosives inside the bus, which was empty of passengers.
In the video, a young man carrying a white bag is seen moving between the seats of the empty bus while talking on the phone. He then leaves the bag behind and exits the bus, glancing at a surveillance camera that captured the scene.
