One Dead and 50 Wounded in Jerusalem Bombing

One Dead and 50 Wounded in Jerusalem Bombing

Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images

One Dead and 50 Wounded in Jerusalem Bombing

Attack culminates a surge of violence in Israel between the Jews and the Palestinians.

March 23, 2011

A bomb exploded near a bus stop in downtown Jerusalem Wednesday afternoon killing one and injuring 50.

The bomb placed inside of a bag was tied to a pole just outside the International Convention Center and across the street from the central bus station, one of the busiest transit points in the city, reportsHaaretz. When it exploded, the windows of two buses parked nearby were blown out.

This attack marks the first time that buses have been targeted by terrorists in Jerusalem since 2004. During the second intifada buses and bus stops were repeatedly hit resulting in massive casualties, inflicting fear on any who traveled through the city.

The bombing culminates a weeklong escalation of tension between Israelis and Palestinians, with some saying that Israel is on the verge of another war with Iranian proxy Hamas.

While visiting the scene of the explosion, Interior Minister Eli Yishai said, “I see the escalation is already here in a number of fronts—in the south and also in Jerusalem,” reported the Jerusalem Post. He continued, “Recent events require us to take action. If we don’t do this we will lose our power of deterrence.”

Here is a look back at the escalation of violence over the past week and a half he was referring to:

  • March 11—Five members of the Jewish Fogel family murdered in their home in Itamar.
  • March 14—Egypt tells reporters it shelled six vehicles trying to smuggle arms into Egypt en route to Gaza.
  • March 15—50 tons of Iranian-made weapons intercepted in the Mediterranean Sea by the Israel Defense Forces (idf). Their destination was Egypt, to be smuggled into the Gaza Strip.
  • March 16—Rocket fired at the Israeli town of Sderot. idf responds killing two within the Gaza Strip at a Hamas post.
  • March 19—50 mortars fired from the Gaza Strip aimed at civilian communities and idf bases. This was the first time since Operation Cast Lead in 2009 where Hamas openly attacked Israel. All other prior attacks had been carried out by other terrorist groups in the Gaza strip.
  • March 19—idf kills two terrorists in the northern Gaza Strip as they approach the security fence located near an Israeli kibbutz.
  • March 19—Palestinians fire antitank missile from Gaza toward Israeli tank. The idf responded with artillery fire.
  • March 19—Spokesman from Hamas’s armed wing: “The resistance will not sit idle and watch the crimes of the occupation, especially in light of the recent bombings.” He also cautioned that if the idf did not stop attacking the Strip, the reaction would be severe.
  • March 20—Grad-type rocket hits Israeli city of Ashkelon.
  • March 21—Jerusalem Postreports on growing concern within the idf of Palestinian terror groups using tunnels under the Gaza border to infiltrate Israel. idf strikes a terror tunnel in northern Gaza as it was being constructed.
  • March 22—Turkey discovers several crates of weapons and ammunition on a plane from Tehran en route to Syria.
  • March 23—Grad rocket lands near the Israeli city of Ashdod for the first time since Operation Cast Lead. Israel responds with air strikes, killing four in Gaza.
  • March 23—Two Grad Katyusha rockets hit Beersheba and seven mortar shells fired into southern Israel.

    • Next came this bombing in the heart of Jerusalem.

    “No country would be prepared to absorb protracted missile fire on its cities and civilians, and of course the State of Israel is not prepared to,” said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in parliament, speaking of this escalation. “It could be that this matter will entail exchanges of blows, and it may take a certain period of time, but we are very determined to strike at the terrorist elements and deny them the means of attacking our citizens.”

    This “exchange of blows” rhetoric is the hard stance that the Trumpet has long expected, but seldom seen, from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

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