Two Israeli citizens were arrested on Friday on suspicion of aiding perpetrators responsible for an attempted coordinated attack in the Gush Dan region. Three explosive devices detonated Thursday night, and another was discovered before detonation in empty buses parked in the Bat Yam and Holon areas. Miraculously, there were no casualties in the incident. Security officials assess that the explosive devices originated from the West Bank.
According to the Dan bus company, in one instance a passenger alerted authorities about a suspicious object. The driver evacuated the bus, and minutes later the explosion occurred.
Tel Aviv District Commander Haim Sargarof said Thursday night that "The devices appeared improvised, with timers. They all looked similar. It appears to be consistent with devices from the territories. Currently, we have 5 scenes, 3 exploded and two being neutralized. A suspicious bag was located in Bat Yam and searches are ongoing. The incident occurred simultaneously at multiple locations. Remain vigilant when identifying suspicious individuals or objects."
Now, as mentioned, two Israeli citizens have been arrested on suspicion of aiding the attackers. The Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) is involved in the investigation. Other details of the case remain under a gag order.
Security is not investing resources to address illegal entry issue
Meanwhile, despite the escalation in attempted attacks originating from the West Bank, approximately 1,000 illegal entrants cross into Israel daily, with thousands more sleeping within Israeli territory and returning every few days.
The security barrier remains breached and the security system, stretched to its limits, is not investing the appropriate and necessary resources to address the problem.
There are quite a few Israelis who transport illegal entrants, and it's possible that in this case they transported the attacker or attackers without being aware they were transporting perpetrators.
Before the war, Israel approved 104,000 Palestinians to work in Israel daily. Currently, only about 6,500 are working in Israel. Security officials have requested several times during the war to increase the number of workers in Israel to reduce rising unemployment in Palestinian Authority areas, which serves as fertile ground for terrorism. We recently revealed that the IDF Central Command commander requested to increase the number of workers in Israel by 15,000, but political leadership did not approve.
