contents
Two explosions claim fatalities and injuries. The actions mean a further deterioration of the situation in the region.
One person was killed in two explosions on the outskirts and a suburb of Jerusalem, and 18 other people were injured in the attacks. According to media reports, the dead person is a minor.
The first explosion occurred at a bus stop on the outskirts of town, shortly after reports of another explosion at a bus stop in Ramot, north of the city.
So far, no one has made themselves known about the attacks – but the Hamas Islamist movement, which rules in the Gaza Strip, explicitly praised the bloody deeds.
Police said the search for suspects is ongoing. According to media reports, there is evidence that the explosive devices were detonated remotely using cell phones. As the Jerusalem Post reported, the bombs were filled with nails and screws.
Far right calls for more toughness
The Israeli MP Joav Ben-Zur from the strictly religious Shas party spoke of a “return to the horror and the difficult and bloody days of the second Palestinian uprising Intifada”. Israel’s deterrent power is hardly existent anymore. “Every day terror rears its head again,” he said.
Right-wing politician Itamar Ben-Gvir said at the site of the explosion on the outskirts of Jerusalem that those responsible had to pay a “price for terror”.
Legend:
Itamar Ben-Gvir can be called a racist with impunity. In 2007 he was convicted of incitement to racism for inciting hatred against Arabs. Now he wants to become police minister in Netanyahu’s new government.
Keystone/Atef Safadi
Among other things, he called for a “return to targeted killings” and a tightening of the prison conditions for militant Palestinians in Israel.
Right-wing religiously dominated government soon?
“We have to form a government as soon as possible,” said the right-wing extremist politician, who is currently demanding the Ministry of Internal Security – which would make him police minister – in the coalition negotiations. “Terror will not wait.”
Legend:
Reuters/Ronen Zvulun
After the parliamentary elections in early November, ex-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to form a coalition of his Likud party with right-wing, religious and far-right parties. The 73-year-old received the order from President Izchak Herzog ten days ago.
Netanyahu’s right-wing religious camp won 64 out of 120 seats in the Knesset in the parliamentary elections. Incumbent Prime Minister Jair Lapid’s liberal Future Party came in second behind Netanyahu’s Likud party. It was the fifth election in Israel in three and a half years.
The alliance of Ben-Gvir and politician Bezalel Smotrich came in third in Israel’s November 1 parliamentary elections. “It could now actually come to a new government coalition faster than expected,” says the journalist Gisela Dachs.
Already more than 160 dead on both sides
Last week, three Israeli men were killed in an attack near an Israeli settler town in the West Bank. According to the military, an 18-year-old Palestinian attacked several people with a knife in two places.
At least 26 people have died in attacks in Israel, East Jerusalem and the West Bank this year, including several soldiers and security forces. Since the spring, Israel’s army has also been carrying out increased raids in the occupied West Bank.
According to the Ministry of Health in Ramallah, more than 140 Palestinians died in connection with military operations, in clashes or in their own attacks this year. There are also increasing reports of violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians, Israeli activists or soldiers.