ISRAEL AT WAR - DAY 61
The Times of Israel liveblogged Wednesday’s events as they unfolded.
The Kremlin says it has faith in the “success” of its offensive in Ukraine, as Russian strikes have left the ex-Soviet country’s energy system in tatters.
“The future and the success of the special operation are beyond doubt,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says, on a visit to Armenia, using the official Moscow term to describe Russia’s assault.
Peskov, accompanying President Vladimir Putin to the Armenian capital Yerevan, does not provide further details.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken joins President Joe Biden and Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides in condemning this morning’s terror bombings in Jerusalem.
“The United States stands resolutely with the people of Israel in the face of the terrorist attacks that occurred this morning in Jerusalem,” Blinken says in a statement.
“We express our condolences to the family of the deceased and wish all victims a speedy recovery. We remain in close contact with our Israeli partners and reiterate that our commitment to Israel’s security remains ironclad.”
Tensions and frustrations are increasing in Israel’s Druze community, with no apparent progress made on efforts to retrieve the body of community member Tiran Fero, 18, whose body was kidnapped last night from a Jenin hospital by Palestinian gunmen.
The gunmen have since demanded a deal that would see Fero’s body returned in exchange for Israel releasing the bodies of dead Palestinian assailants it has not returned to their families.
Hundreds of residents of Fero’s hometown, Daliyat al-Karmel, have marched in solidarity with the family, demanding his body’s release for burial.
וזו התגובה בדלית אלכרמל. מאות בתהלוכה נגד אחזקת הגופה של טירן וקריאה לשחרור גופתו. כצפוי ככל שהזמן עובר הדברים הופכים להיות יותר קשים , אומנם הלחץ גובר אבל מצד שני אין עדיין גורם שיכול לקבל החלטה ולישם אותה,בג'נין החמושים מרגישים שהם קיבלו רוח גבית מצד שני רף הדאגה גובר. pic.twitter.com/kup0L8c9ff
— Jack khoury.جاك خوري (@KhJacki) November 23, 2022
Reports are indicating that efforts to broker a quick agreement are faltering, with the matter possibly set to drag on.
Meanwhile, in Jenin, hundreds of Palestinians have similarly marched in support of the gunmen holding the body, demanding the release of attackers’ bodies held by Israel.
מאות משתתפים בתהלוכה במרכז ג'נין הקוראת לשחרור גופות פלסטינים המוחזקים בידי ישראל, המשתתפים חלקם בני משפחה הביעו תמיכה באחזקת גופת טירן עד שחרור הגופות בניהם,יחד עם זאת בעיר מודים שאין מדובר בהשתתפות המונית וזה מעיד על מחלוקת אודות מהלך החטיפה. pic.twitter.com/QOWZl419cs
— Jack khoury.جاك خوري (@KhJacki) November 23, 2022
Israeli pilots who arrived in Egypt are being told to leave the country immediately since they did not receive visas, the Kan public broadcaster says.
The report says 11 pilots are being “physically pushed” toward the planes, even though they say they don’t have sufficient fuel to leave.
Kan says the Foreign Ministry has confirmed the details and is looking into the matter.
Palestinian health officials say a 22-year-old man wounded in clashes with the Israeli army in the West Bank city of Nablus last night succumbed to his wounds.
According to the Palestinian Authority Health Ministry, Muhammed Abu Kishk was shot and seriously hurt during the clash.
Israeli troops had entered the West Bank city to secure a visit of Jewish worshipers to the Joseph’s Tomb holy site on the outskirts of Nablus.
A Palestinian teenager was also killed during the clash.
Joseph’s Tomb is located inside Area A of the West Bank, which is officially under complete PA control, though the Israeli military regularly enters despite Palestinian opposition.
A man is killed after being stabbed during a road rage incident in the Tel Aviv suburb of Holon.
The man was stabbed and critically injured during a heated argument with another driver.
After trying to save his life, medics at the city’s Wolfson hospital pronounce him dead.
The United Arab Emirates issues a condemnation of today’s terror bombings in Jerusalem.
The Gulf nation’s embassy in Israel tweets its “sincere condolences to the victims and their loved ones.
“We wish a speedy recovery to all those injured,” it adds.
The Supreme Court rejects filmmaker Mohammad Bakri’s appeal, issuing a final ruling barring the controversial 2002 documentary “Jenin, Jenin” from being screened in Israel over a defamation lawsuit.
Lt. Col. (res.) Nissim Magnagi filed his suit against the filmmaker, Mohammad Bakri, in November 2016, demanding NIS 2.6 million (approximately $760,000) in damages and an end to the screening of the documentary.
Today’s ruling upholds a January 2021 decision by the Lod District Court, which ordered Bakri to pay Magnagi NIS 175,000 ($51,000) as well as NIS 50,000 ($14,600) in legal expenses.
The film falsely alleged that the Israel Defense Forces massacred civilians in the West Bank city of Jenin during the Operation Defensive Shield military campaign, at the height of the Second Intifada.
During the 11-day battle in the city in April 2002, 52 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces. Most of them — 27, according to Human Rights Watch; 48, according to the IDF — were combatants. Twenty-three Israeli soldiers were killed in the fighting.
Jenin was a central point in the training and dispatch of Palestinian suicide bombers in the Second Intifada, responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Israelis, and IDF troops had been deployed to the area to tackle what Israel described as the “infrastructure of terror” there.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will today address an urgent UN Security Council meeting on Russia’s latest strikes that have spurred blackouts in neighboring Moldova, according to diplomats.
Zelensky will address the emergency debate — requested by Ukraine and due to start in 3.5 hours — at 4:00 p.m. in New York — via video-link, two diplomats tell AFP.
A court approves a police request to place a gag order on the investigation into this morning’s bombing attacks in Jerusalem.
The gag order bars the publication of any details related to the investigation, other than what the police have already made public.
The order, signed by a judge at the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court, is valid for 30 days.
The Likud party issues a one-sentence response to Religious Zionism’s lengthy statement airing its grievances in coalition talks, ignoring the accusations and urging Bezalel Smotrich to be more flexible in his demands for portfolios and other positions and quickly form a government.
“Bezalel, on a day of murderous terror attacks in which the public expects the formation of a government that will restore Israeli citizens’ security, drop the insistence on jobs and come sign this evening on forming a fully right-wing government,” Likud says.
Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism party accuses Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party of constantly leaking “lies” to the press as part of the coalition negotiations, alleging in a lengthy statement that Likud wants to “trample and humiliate and sideline” the far-right party.
Religious Zionism says Likud “has unfortunately decided to hold negotiation meetings barely once every three days, and in between to leak spin to degrade us and to send armies of tweeters and ‘analysts’ to lie, curse and vulgarly berate us.”
The party says it has demanded the defense, education and religious affairs portfolios. It says it has agreed to a series of requests by Netanyahu, including giving up the Defense Ministry in exchange for control of the Covil Administration and getting the Finance Ministry for two years and the Interior Ministry and Transportation Ministry after that, as well as giving up the religious affairs and education portfolios and getting responsibility for religious state-affiliated schools.
“And last night, [Netanyahu] went back on all the agreements,” Religious Zionism charges. “We suggest that Likud start getting serious about the negotiation.”
The party responds to vocal Netanyahu-aligned pundits and activists holding it responsible for the deadlock in coalition talks, saying it would be a “mistake” to succumb to the pressure and “regret the missed opportunity for four years.”
It says “things weren’t okay” in more than a decade under Netanyahu, and that it has “promised that it will be different this time,” referring to a list of often radical demands regarding security, the judiciary, settlements and religious matters.
“We’re going with Netanyahu and Likud and we don’t think we need to prove that after the last two years, but we aren’t giving an open cheque and are not going blindly,” it says. “We have no interest in mud-slinging. We will stick to our demands to ensure those who voted right-wing will get right-wing.”
US Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides says that two of the wounded in today’s Jerusalem bus stop bombings are American citizens.
“As we head into Thanksgiving, I am grateful that they will recover. I pray for a peaceful holiday in the U.S., Jerusalem, or wherever you may be celebrating,” he tweets.
The European Parliament website has been hit by a cyberattack, shortly after lawmakers approved a resolution calling Russia a “state sponsor of terrorism,” officials say.
Parliament spokesman Jaume Duch posts on Twitter that the site has been targeted by a “DDOS attack” designed to force high levels of traffic from outside parliament onto the site, disrupting the network.
Parliament declares that Putin's regime is a state sponsor of terrorism.
MEPs send strong message paving the way for international tribunal to bring those committing atrocities against Ukrainians to justice.
Press release⤵️https://t.co/Av2Vpjoh0a pic.twitter.com/eyWtETa070
— Jaume Duch (@jduch) November 23, 2022
Hebrew media reports significant progress in coalition talks following a meeting held by prime minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu and Shas party leader Aryeh Deri.
The two leaders apparently hope agreements can be filed by tonight, but at the pace of talks thus far, that would seem unlikely.
According to reported details, Deri is slated to become interior minister and also health minister for the first two years of the government, and then possibly replace Religious Zionism party chief Bezalel Smotrich as finance minister.
That is, only if the current legal status — which bars Deri from serving as a minister for the next seven years due to a suspended sentence he received earlier this year for tax offenses — is changed. That could happen if the Central Elections Committee chairman, a Supreme Court justice, decides the offense doesn’t carry “moral turpitude,” or if the law is changed as Netanyahu and Deri reportedly plan.
The reports say no difficulties are expected with the extremist Otzma Yehudit party, even though there has been no decision on whether it or Shas will get the Ministry for the Development of the Periphery, the Negev and the Galilee, coveted by both.
Shas is also expected to get control over the Religious Affairs Ministry, while United Torah Judaism is reportedly set to get control over the Jerusalem Ministry, the Ministry for Social Equality and the Housing Ministry.
The tough part remains Smotrich’s Religious Zionism, which in addition to the first two years in the Finance Ministry is also demanding the settlement affairs and immigrant absorption portfolios, in addition to heading four of the 11 coalition-controlled Knesset committees.
The gaps with Smotrich are still said to be significant.
Outgoing Defense Minister Benny Gantz issues a warning to those involved in this morning’s bombing attack in Jerusalem, following a meeting with military officials.
This morning, a teenager was killed and more than 20 people were hurt in two bombings at bus stops in Jerusalem.
“The time of the perpetrators of attacks, the planners of attacks, and the financiers of attacks, is limited,” Gantz says in a statement at the IDF Central Command headquarters in Jerusalem.
Speaking about the body of an Israeli man, Tiran Fero, currently held by Palestinian gunmen in Jenin, Gantz says he expects the Palestinian Authority to work to have him returned to his family for burial.
“I have an unequivocal expectation from the Palestinian Authority for its security mechanisms to act for the immediate return of his body. This is a basic humanitarian issue,” Gantz says.
“Either way, Israel is obligated to return Tiran to his family, and so it shall be,” he adds.
Japan defeats Germany 2-1 in a World Cup shock as Takuma Asano’s 83rd-minute winner stuns the four-time champions.
Ilkay Gundogan gave Germany a first-half lead from the penalty spot before Ritsu Doan equalized in the 75th minute, giving Japan the chance to set up the winning goal.
The result comes a day after Saudi Arabia’s stunning upset win over Lionel Messi’s Argentina.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemns “in the strongest possible terms” today’s terror attack in Jerusalem, which killed Israeli-Canadian teenager Aryeh Schupak.
“Incredibly saddened to learn about the death of a young Canadian in the terrorist attack in Jerusalem,” Trudeau tweets, sending condolences to the boy’s loved ones.
Incredibly saddened to learn about the death of a young Canadian in the terrorist attack in Jerusalem. I’m sending his family and friends my deepest condolences. I’m also thinking of those who were injured. Canada condemns this violence in the strongest possible terms.
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) November 23, 2022
All three nuclear power plants still under Ukrainian control have been disconnected from the electricity grid, Ukraine’s nuclear operator says, after fresh Russian airstrikes hit the country.
Energoatom says in a statement that the strikes have activated emergency protocols at the Rivnenska, Pivdennoukrainska and Khmelnytska nuclear power plants and that “as a result… all reactors were automatically disconnected” from the electricity grid.
Likud MK Yariv Levin, a close associate of prime minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu who is managing the coalition talks with allied ultra-Orthodox and far-right parties, reportedly goes on a tirade against Religious Zionism party leader Bezalel Smotrich over his “outlandish” demands.
The Walla news site quotes comments allegedly made by Levin today in private talks, without naming any source.
Levin apparently claims Smotrich aims to “form a government within a government” and that his seven-member party wants to dismantle government ministries and “take over half the government.”
Levin claims Smotrich’s demands include control of Education Ministry bodies responsible for religious schools, of the Jewish conversion system currently controlled by the Prime Minister’s Office, and of Foreign Ministry bodies tasked with countering movements calling for boycotts of Israel. He says Smotrich also demanded control of four of the Knesset’s 11 coalition-dominated committees.
These are “outlandish demands,” Levin reportedly says, adding: “None of this is ideological.”
Contacted by The Times of Israel, Levin’s office doesn’t deny that the remarks were made, but hints they weren’t intended as an attack on Smotrich, declining to comment further.
President Isaac Herzog speaks with Hussam Fero, the father of 18-year-old Tiran Fero whose body is being held by Palestinian terrorists in the West Bank city of Jenin.
Fero’s family says that after he was critically injured in a car crash, Palestinian gunmen stormed the Jenin hospital, disconnected him from life support and snatched his body, making demands of Israel in exchange for it.
“The entire Israeli public is with you, praying that this tragedy passes as quickly as possible,” Herzog tells Hussam Fero, adding that he is following the developments.
A statement from Herzog’s office says Fero thanked the president for the conversation.
The Israel Defense Forces has demolished a school in the West Bank, the B’Tselem rights group says, following a court ruling earlier this year that upheld a long-standing expulsion order against eight Palestinian hamlets in the area.
B’Tselem says schoolchildren were inside the classrooms as soldiers arrived ahead of the demolition. Video provided by the group shows a bulldozer tearing down the one-floor structure as soldiers stand guard nearby.
Moments ago the school was completely demolished pic.twitter.com/eSMq6jibCZ
— B'Tselem בצלם بتسيلم (@btselem) November 23, 2022
COGAT, the Israeli military body responsible for administrative affairs in the West Bank, says it demolished a building built illegally in an area designated as a closed firing zone.
The Supreme Court in May ruled against the families in the area, known as Masafer Yatta, paving the way for the potential displacement of at least 1,000 people. Rights groups say Israel has been carrying out a gradual demolition of the structures in the area since the ruling, with the school the latest to be torn down.
The military declared the area a firing and training zone in the early 1980s. Israeli authorities have argued that the residents only used the area for seasonal agriculture and had no permanent structures there at the time. In November 1999, security forces expelled some 700 villagers and destroyed homes and cisterns, according to rights groups. The legal battle began the following year.
In its ruling in May, the Supreme Court sided with the state and said the villagers had rejected a compromise that would have allowed them to enter the area at certain times and practice agriculture for part of the year.
The families say they have been there for decades, from long before Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Six Day War. They practice a traditional form of desert agriculture and animal herding, with some living in caves at least part of the year, but say their only homes in the hardscrabble communities are now at risk of demolition.
Israeli military chief Aviv Kohavi is ending a five-day trip to the US early following the bombing attack in Jerusalem and the news of the body of an Israeli man being held in Jenin.
The military says Kohavi will arrive back in Israel tomorrow afternoon. He was originally scheduled to only depart the US tomorrow afternoon.
The decision was made following a briefing he received from army officials on recent events, the Israel Defense Forces adds.
Water services are suspended in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv’s mayor says, after Russian strikes damaged energy infrastructure and triggered power cuts in cities across Ukraine.
“Due to shelling, water supply has been suspended throughout Kyiv,” Vitali Klitschko says on social media.
The “whole” of the surrounding Kyiv region has been left without power, says governor Oleksiy Kuleba.
Religious Zionism party leader Bezalel Smotrich, a far-right leader aiming to become defense minister in the incoming government, calls Palestinian gunmen holding the body of an Israeli man “subhuman.”
The gunmen are holding captive the body of 18-year-old Tiran Fero, who was hospitalized in the West Bank city of Jenin following a severe car crash.
Fero’s uncle has said the man was still alive when the gunmen stormed in, apparently believing he was an Israeli soldier, disconnected him from life support and kidnapped him.
“Murderous subhumans who need to suffer a blow they won’t forget,” Smotrich tweets.
Hundreds are currently attending the funeral of terror victim Aryeh Schupak at the Har Nof neighborhood in Jerusalem.
Schupak, 16, a dual Israeli-Canadian citizen, was killed in a terror bombing this morning at a bus stop near the entrance to the capital, while making his way to a yeshiva in which he studied at Moshav Beit Meir.
מאות משתתפים כעת בהר נוף בהלוויתו של הנער אריה שצו׳פק ז״ל בן ה-16 שנרצח בפיגוע הבוקר בתחנה האוטובוס בכניסה לירושלים בדרכו לישיבה שבה למד במושב בית מאיר pic.twitter.com/KKcu3p1Xpx
— Haim Goldich | חיים גולדיטש (@HGoldich) November 23, 2022
The European Union’s diplomatic arm “condemns in the strongest possible terms” this morning’s Jerusalem terror attack.
“We express our deepest condolences to the families of the victims and wish a speedy recovery to all the injured,” the European External Action Service (EEAS) says in a statement.
The EU adds that it is “worried about the dangerous escalation of violence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory,” and stresses that it is firmly committed to the fight against terrorism.
In his remarks following a meeting with security officials, Prime Minister Yair Lapid says Palestinian gunmen will pay “a very high price” for snatching and holding the body of a young Israeli man, Tiran Fero, in Jenin after he died following a car crash.
Fero’s uncle has claimed the gunmen murdered the 18-year-old, disconnecting him from life support while he was alive.
“Israel has proven in recent months that there is no place and no terrorist that it does not know how to reach, from the Old City of Nablus, the refugee camp in Jenin, to arenas near and far,” Lapid says.
“If Tiran’s body is not returned, the kidnappers will pay a heavy price,” he adds.
Presumed incoming prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu similarly says in a statement that Fero’s kidnapping “is a villainous act by savage people,” saying Israel must act “with all means” to return his body.
Prime Minister Yair Lapid vows that security forces will capture a terror cell that planted two bombs at bus stops in Jerusalem this morning, killing one and wounding over 20 others.
“We will get to them. They can run away, they can hide, it won’t help them. The security forces will get to them. If they resist, they will be killed. If not, we will deal with them with the full severity of the law,” Lapid says in remarks provided by his office, following a meeting with security officials.
The White House issues a statement “unequivocally” condemning this morning’s twin terror bombings in Jerusalem.
“The United States has offered all appropriate assistance to the Government of Israel as it investigates the attack and works to bring the perpetrators to justice,” says the statement by White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
“We mourn the reported loss of life and wish a speedy recovery to the injured. The United States stands with the Government and people of Israel. As President Biden emphasized during his visit to Israel in July, our commitment to Israel’s security is ironclad and unbreakable,” she adds.
The Likud party continues to push to form a government, leveraging the tense security situation to claim the “public expects” its politicians to put “personal desires aside” and come to agreements to form the right-wing and religious government it plans to lead under Benjamin Netanyahu.
“In this sensitive security period, it is time to put personal desires aside, unite and form a national government that will restore security to Israel,” says a statement attributed to a “senior Likud source,” in a message apparently directed at leaders of allied parties, particularly Religious Zionism chief Bezalel Smotrich.
“This is what the public expects from us and rightly so,” the statement reads.
Russian strikes have hit the Ukraine capital Kyiv, officials say, damaging energy infrastructure, the latest in a series of systematic attacks that have caused nationwide blackouts with temperatures dropping.
“The enemy is launching missile strikes on critical infrastructure in Kyiv city. Stay in shelters until the air alert ends,” Kyiv city administration says on social media, with mayor Vitali Klitschko saying infrastructure has been hit.
AFP journalists meanwhile report power cuts in the north and center of Kyiv.
Canadian Ambassador to Israel Lisa Stadelbauer confirms that 16-year-old Aryeh Schupak, killed in this morning’s terror attack in Jerusalem, was a Canadian citizen in addition to having Israeli citizenship.
Condemning “all forms of terror,” the envoy sends condolences to Schupak’s loved ones and to those injured in the twin bombings, branding the attack “reprehensible.”
Heartbroken to confirm that a young Canadian lost his life in this morning's reprehensible terror attack in Jerusalem. Our sincere condolences to his family and friends, and to others wounded in this attack. Canada continues to condemn all forms of terror.
— Lisa Stadelbauer (@LisaStadelbauer) November 23, 2022
Visiting victims of this morning’s coordinated Jerusalem terror attacks who are hospitalized at Shaare Zedek Medical Center, prime minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu says he will do “everything to return security” to Israelis, as he works to form the country’s next government.
“We still have a fight against cruel terror, which is again raising its head. We’ll do everything to return security to all Israeli citizens, rapidly,” Netanyahu says.
His current expected roster of security nominees includes Likud MK Yoav Gallant, a former head of the military’s Southern Command, as defense minister, as well as firebrand Otzma Yehudit leader MK Itamar Ben Gvir for public security minister.
Likud party leader Netanyahu also sends condolences to the victims and their families, including the family of 16-year-old Aryeh Schupak who died in the attack.
“I send condolences to the family of yeshiva student and 16-year-old teenager Aryeh, who was killed in a cruel way,” Netanyahu says before leaving the hospital, adding that he is praying for the recovery of the attack’s additional 22 injured people.
מבקר בבית החולים שערי צדק את פצועי הפיגוע הקשה בירושלים. כולנו מתפללים לרפואתם. pic.twitter.com/hSjCvj5slE
— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) November 23, 2022
This morning’s terror attacks fall on the Beta Israel community’s Sigd holiday, which Ethiopian Jews celebrate to commemorate the covenant between God and the nation of Israel.
One of the severely wounded victims from the attacks is an Ethiopian immigrant to Israel, Netanyahu says.
US Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides says he’s “appalled” by the “cowardly” terror attack in Jerusalem that has claimed one life and injured 22 people.
“My heart breaks for the families of those who were harmed,” Nides says in a tweet.
Appalled by the cowardly terrorist attacks in Jerusalem today that targeted innocent civilians, including children. My heart breaks for the families of those who were harmed.
— Ambassador Tom Nides (@USAmbIsrael) November 23, 2022
The Likud party indicates that reported opposition to a far-right leader’s demand to control the Israeli governing body in the West Bank is “fake.”
Religious Zionism leader Bezalel Smotrich has reportedly accepted that Likud will not hand him the Defense Ministry, but has pushed to excise the sensitive Civil Administration from the ministry’s purview and transfer it to his control.
“There is no disagreement with Smotrich regarding the transfer of the powers of the Civil Administration powers,” says a statement attributed to a “Likud source,” without specifying whether Smotrich will get the Civil Administration or has backed down from the request.
Smotrich has long pushed for power over the Civil Administration, and at the beginning of 2021 said he would push to close the military liaison to the Palestinians. If he were to control the civilian administrator in the West Bank, Smotrich would be able to direct resources toward enforcing against illegal Palestinian building in Israeli-controlled Area C, where all Israeli settlements are located.
Likud has been hesitant to put the body under Smotrich’s control, especially as it would likely cause tension with the United States.
Divisions over the Civil Administration are the latest in a string of blow-ups between Likud and its partners to the right, as it tries to form Israel’s 37th government.
President Isaac Herzog says the Jerusalem terror attack this morning “won’t weaken us or undermine our right to live peaceful lives in the Land of Israel and in our state, including in Jerusalem, our eternal capital.”
Speaking at the central state event celebrating the Ethiopian community’s Sigd festival, in the capital’s Armon Hanatziv neighborhood, Herzog says Israel “will continue to stand strong and determined against hateful terror groups and despicable terrorists, and to prove there is no force in the world that will break the unified Israeli spirit.”
Prime Minister Yair Lapid gives a briefing to prime minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu, following this morning’s Jerusalem terror attack.
Without elaborating on the content of the briefing, Netanyahu’s Likud party thanks Lapid for the security update and backs efforts to catch the terrorists who planted the two bombs that have claimed one life and injured 19.
The funeral for Aryeh Schupak, 16, who was killed in this morning’s attack, will begin today at 3 p.m.
The funeral procession will depart for Har Hamenuhot cemetery from 17 HaAdmor Mi-Ruzhin Street in Har Nof, where he lived.
Ofer Cassif, the sole Jewish lawmaker in the Hadash-Ta’al party, says the 16-year old boy killed in this morning’s attack in Jerusalem is a victim of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank.
“I want to send my condolences to all victims of the occupation, Jews and Palestinians alike,” Cassif says from the Knesset podium.
“Today and yesterday, two 16-year-old boys were murdered: Aryeh Schopak who was murdered today and Ahmed Amjad Shehadah who was murdered yesterday. We want this bloodshed to stop, and it’ll stop only when the occupation ends,” Cassif adds.
Shehadah was killed in clashes with the IDF in Nablus overnight, as the army sought to secure a monthly pilgrimage of Orthodox Jewish worshipers to a shrine in a Palestinian area of the northern West Bank.
— with Emanuel Fabian
The bombings in Jerusalem this morning were carried out by a cell numbering several terrorists who knew the terrain well and planned the attack long in advance, according to an assessment by defense officials quoted by Ynet.
The assessment reportedly says the attackers operated independently and were not guided by a handler in a larger terror group.
They remotely detonated the first bomb after ensuring that there were people next to it, then did the same with the second device, the officials say, according to the report
Prime minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu will soon visit victims of this morning’s Jerusalem terror attacks hospitalized at Shaare Tzedek, a spokesman for his Likud party says.
Ukraine’s embassy in Israel says it is “deeply saddened by the deadly attacks in Jerusalem.”
“Terror has no justification,” the embassy writes in English and Ukrainian in a Facebook post. “Every human deserves peace.”
The Kyiv-Jerusalem relationship has been increasingly fraught in recent weeks, as Ukrainian officials publicly blast Israel for not providing defensive weapons systems, and Israel pans Ukraine’s support for an anti-Israel measure at the UN.
Several leaders from across Israel’s political parties condemn this morning’s terror attacks in Jerusalem and send their condolences to the victims and their families.
One person was killed and at least 20 injured in explosions at two buses at entrances to the city.
Far-right Religious Zionism leader Bezalel Smotrich, who until recently had his sights set on the Defense Ministry in Israel’s forming government, tweets that the “hard morning in Jerusalem” “takes us back to sights that the brain remembers, but the heart wants to forget,” in presumed reference to the bloody Second Intifada that raged in the early 2000s.
“At this time, I only ask to send a speedy recovery to the wounded and strength and a big hug to the security forces,” he adds.
Right-wing Yisrael Beytenu chief Avigdor Liberman, who is expected to move to the opposition, also sends condolences and “gives strength to the security forces, the police and the IDF and trust them to do their mission to capture the criminal terrorists and those who sent them.”
“Terrorism requires us to act with a heavy hand every day of the year,” the hawkish finance minister adds.
At the other end of the political spectrum, center-left Labor leader Merav Michaeli also denounces the “dreadful terror attack in our capital” and says that “security forces will do everything to locate the terrorists and bring them to justice for this despicable attack.”
The head of the police operations division says the two bombs that were detonated at bus stops in Jerusalem this morning, killing one and wounding over 20 others, were “high quality” explosive devices.
Speaking to reporters, Deputy Commissioner Sigal Bar Zvi says due to the nature of the attack, police suspect an organized cell was behind it, rather than just one person.
She says the bombs were placed behind the bus stops and in a bush.
She adds there were no specific warnings about the attack, but there had been intelligence pointing to planned attacks in general.
Police also raised their level of alert following the attack, according to Bar Zvi.
Opening the Knesset’s Wednesday session with an acknowledgment of this morning’s Jerusalem terror attacks, Knesset Speaker Mickey Levy sends condolences to the victims and says Israel will find the perpetrators.
“We will continue the long-standing fight against murderous terrorism that harms innocents and we will pursue terrorists wherever and whenever necessary,” Levy says from the Knesset’s presiding podium. “I have no doubt that the security forces will lay their hands on every wrongdoer who had a hand in it.”
Before joining political life, Levy was a senior police official who commanded the Jerusalem District during the Second Intifada.
“I wish to send strength to the residents of Jerusalem, whose resilience I know well, and hope that peace and routine will soon return to the city streets,” he adds.
The father of one of the victims wounded in this morning’s bombing attack at the entrance of Jerusalem says his son saw a man take pictures of people waiting at the bus stop shortly before the explosion.
Speaking to the Ynet news site, Avi Biton says: “My son saw that before the attack, someone with an Arab appearance came and took pictures of the station at the entrance to the city, and after a few minutes there was an explosion.”
“He took pictures of the people at the bus stop and disappeared,” Biton adds.
Biton’s son is seriously wounded, according to hospital officials.
“My son was injured by a lot of shrapnel. He has one piece of shrapnel that is right in the skull, which cannot be removed, near a blood vessel. He has fractures in his vertebrae and pelvis, and bleeding in his stomach,” Biton says.
Former IDF general Zvika Fogel, a new MK from far-right Otzma Yehudit, tells Army Radio that Israel has lost its deterrent capability against Palestinian terrorism.
Fogel, a former head of the IDF southern command, says Likud should accelerate coalition talks, finalize terms with partners such as his party, and get the new government into office so that it can tackle terror more effectively.
When it comes to tackling terror and restoring deterrence, “if a single Jewish mother is crying, or 1,000 Palestinian mothers, better that 1,000 Palestinian mothers cry,” he says.
British Ambassador Neil Wigan says he is “shocked by the terrorist attacks this morning” which killed one and injured at least 20 in Jerusalem.
“Our deepest sympathies to those affected and their families and friends,” he tweets on his personal account. “The UK stands with Israel against terrorism.”
The victim of the Jerusalem bombing attack is named as 16-year-old Aryeh Schupak.
Schupak, a yeshiva student from Jerusalem’s Har Nof neighborhood, was critically hurt in the attack, which seriously wounded his friend and several other people.
He was brought to a hospital in Jerusalem where medical officials declared his death
According to the Kan public broadcaster, Schupak has Canadian citizenship.
However, Canada’s embassy in Tel Aviv would not confirm that Schupak is a Canadian national.
An hour earlier, the embassy tweeted that Canada “strongly condemns this morning’s abhorrent terror attacks in Jerusalem.”
Police say Route 1, the site of one of the explosions this morning, has reopened to traffic.
The highway serves as the main artery into Jerusalem.
Police warn that traffic will be heavy in the area.
Two explosions at two bus stops near entrances to Jerusalem killed one person and injured 22, police and medics said.
Police said the blasts were a terror bombing attack.
The first explosion occurred close to the main entrance of Jerusalem in Givat Shaul, shortly after 7 a.m., peak commuter hour.
A second blast occurred shortly after 7:30 a.m., at Ramot junction, another entrance to Jerusalem.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group hails the twin bombing attacks in Jerusalem that killed one and injured at least 20.
“The operation in the occupied city of Jerusalem is a natural response to the occupation, its terrorism, and its criminal practices against the defenseless Palestinian people and its holy sites,” the organization says in a statement.
“The operation says to the leaders of the Occupation [Israel] and the leaders of the settlers that none of the policies of your criminal government will protect you from the strikes of our people’s resistance,” says Tarek Ez Din, spokesperson for Islamic Jihad.
“No Judaization operations, incursions upon holy sites, or assaults upon the sons and daughters of our people in Jerusalem, Hebron, Jenin and Nablus will go unpunished,” he says.
There has been no claim of responsibility for the devices left at bus stops at two entrances to the city.
Hamas has also welcomed the attack and warned there was more violence to come.
Hospital officials update that there are at least 23 victims of the Jerusalem bombing attacks this morning, including one person who was killed.
The first bombing hurt 18 people, including one fatality, one person currently listed in critical condition, and five more listed in serious-moderate condition, Shaare Zedek and Hadassah hospitals say.
Another 11 people lightly hurt in the first attack are being treated at Hadassah Mount Scopus Medical Center.
In the second attack at the Ramot junction, five people are taken to Hadassah hospital after being wounded by shrapnel or suffering anxiety.
Prime Minister Yair Lapid will brief presumptive incoming prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the premier holds a security assessment at noon, the Prime Minister’s Office says in a statement.
The briefing comes in the wake of recent “security events,” the statement says.
One person was killed and 21 injured in two bombings at the entrances to Jerusalem this morning.
In addition, the body of an Israeli man who was killed in a car crash in the northern West Bank city of Jenin on Wednesday morning was believed to have been snatched by Palestinian gunmen from a hospital in the city.
Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion responds to the morning’s two bombings by saying that the city is “ready” and “we won’t let it disrupt our way of life.”
While noting that it’s still unknown who is responsible for the attack, Lion also tells Army Radio that it’s necessary to invest “billions” of shekels to improve conditions for East Jerusalem residents, as well as fighting the pathways that lead to terror.
One person was killed and 18 injured by explosions at two bus stops at entrances to Jerusalem.
The military’s liaison to the Palestinians announces that two major crossings in the northern West Bank are to be shuttered following the snatching of a body of an Israeli by Palestinian gunmen in Jenin last night.
Yesterday, 18-year-old Tiran Fero from the Druze-majority town of Daliyat al-Karmel was critically injured in a car crash in the West Bank city. He died at the Ibn Sina hospital in Jenin, and later his body was apparently snatched by unidentified gunmen.
In a statement, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) — the Defense Ministry body responsible for Palestinian civil affairs — says the Jalamah and Salem checkpoints are to be closed until further notice.
The checkpoints are predominantly used by Arab Israelis who travel to the Palestinian city of Jenin and the surrounding area for business or leisure, and by Palestinians who need to travel to Israel for work.
The closure is expected to take an economic toll on the Jenin area.
Police suspect the two explosions in Jerusalem this morning were caused by near-identical remotely detonated explosive devices left in bags.
The devices were packed with nails to maximize casualties, the Kan public broadcaster reports, citing police officials.
One person was killed and at least another 18 people hurt in two explosions shortly after 7 a.m. at two bus stops at entrances to the city, police and medics said.
Surveillance camera footage shows the moment of the first blast at a bus stop at the entrance to Jerusalem this morning.
The bombing attack killed one person and injured 11.
Several more people were injured in a second bombing at another bus stop half an hour later.
Surveillance camera footage shows the first bombing at the entrance of Jerusalem. pic.twitter.com/NntybcGWYg
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) November 23, 2022
Presumptive incoming public security minister Itamar Ben Gvir arrives at the site of this morning’s Jerusalem terror attacks and says Israel needs to “exact a price for terror.”
“Terror needs to pay a very, very, very high price,” the far-right Otzma Yehudit leader says.
Ben Gvir says that Israel needs to “bring back targeted assassinations,” put more restrictions on prisoners convicted of security crimes, stop the Palestinian Authority’s payments to families of terrorists, and “enact a lockdown and go house to house” after this morning’s combined attacks across two sites that already claimed one life.
“Policy needs to change,” he says.
Amid the ongoing efforts to form a right-wing and religious government under Likud, Ben Gvir adds, “we have to form a government as soon as possible; terror doesn’t wait.”
From the terror scene, Ben Gvir says he’s heading to Jerusalem’s Share Zedek hospital to “visit the injured.”
A spokesperson for the Hamas terror group hails the Jerusalem bombing attacks.
“The action conveyed the message to the occupation by saying that our people will stand firm on their land and cling to the path of resistance,” Mohammad Hamada says in a statement.
“The coming days will be intense and more difficult for the enemy. The time has come for the creation of cells that are spread all over Palestine and are ready for a confrontation,” he adds.
One person was killed and at least 18 others were hurt when two explosions targeted two bus stops at entrances of Jerusalem.
There has been no claim of responsibility.
The European Union ambassador to Israel says he is “horrified” by the twin bombings in Jerusalem this morning, which have killed one person and injured more than a dozen, some critically.
“Horrified by the terror attacks in Jerusalem that killed one person and left many people injured, including some in critical and serious conditions. I express my deepest condolences to the family of the victims and wish a speedy recovery to all injured. Terror is never justified,” says Dimiter Tzantchev.
Visiting the scene of one of the Jerusalem explosions, Israel Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai calls on the public to be alert for suspicious packages.
He says officers are scanning the city for other devices.
Shabtai also says there may have been two attackers.
“This is a framework of attack that we haven’t seen for many years,” he says.
Two explosions at two bus stops near entrances to Jerusalem morning left one person dead and at least another 18 people hurt, police and medics said.
Police described the explosions as a terror bombing attack.
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