Palestinian man indicted as accomplice in botched bus bombings
Nablus resident, brother of key suspect, accused of helping to prepare bombs that destroyed a number of vehicles in February in Bat Yam and Holon
Military prosecutors have indicted a Palestinian man suspected of having helped to carry out a botched bus bombing spree in the suburbs of Tel Aviv two months ago, Israel Police and Shin Bet spokespeople announced on Tuesday.
The defendant, a resident of Nablus in his 30s whose name has not been published, is the brother of the suspected terrorist accused of planting the explosives on three buses in Bat Yam. The main suspect has so far evaded police capture.
On February 20, three empty buses exploded one after the other in parking lots in Bat Yam. The timed devices were apparently supposed to have detonated Friday morning when the buses were in use, but went off early. Giora Eiland, a former IDF operations chief, speculated that the timers were set incorrectly.
There were no injuries in the incidents. Police said they neutralized two other unexploded devices on buses nearby. Hebrew media reports said those devices were discovered in Holon.
According to the indictment, the suspect helped prepare the bombs used in the failed attack and helped his brother hide from Israeli authorities after he planted the explosives on buses.
Prosecutors said he was aware of the plot as far back as January when his brother showed him oxygen balloons he had purchased to make the explosive devices. The terrorist also asked his brother to purchase remote controls to activate the devices. The suspect bought nails to be used as fragments in the bombs and increase their lethality, prosecutors said.
In addition, he is accused of wiring at least one of the bombs to an alarm clock that was used as a timer to set it off.
He was charged with cooperating in attempting to cause death.
Police said that military prosecutors would indict three more suspects, all residents of Nablus in their 30s, over coming days. All three are suspected of having helped plan the attack.
Last month, the Police Prosecutions Division filed an indictment against a resident of Holon who transported the bomb-planting terrorist to Bat Yam.
The defendant told investigators that he transported the terrorist twice on the day of the attack in return for a payment of NIS 450 ($122), the Kan public broadcaster reported.
In the first journey, he took the terrorist to a checkpoint in the West Bank, and the second time, he transported him from the checkpoint to Bat Yam.
The defendant admitted that he transported the terrorist but claimed he did not know he was involved in terrorist activity.
The defendant was released to house arrest after being indicted, since the judge did not believe there was evidence he knew he was transporting a terrorist.
The Times of Israel Community.