British Foreign Secretary William Hague has condemned yesterday’s attempted terrorist attack in Bat Yam.
One person was lightly wounded in an explosion aboard a number 240 bus heading from the central city of Bnei Brak to Bat Yam on Sunday afternoon. Police later confirmed the bombing was an attempted terrorist attack, and that only the alertness of a passenger and quick thinking by the bus driver averted a mass-casualty atrocity.
On Monday morning, Britain’s Foreign Secretary released a statement saying: “I am appalled by the attempted terrorist attack on a bus south of Tel Aviv yesterday. My thoughts are with everyone affected.
“The UK unreservedly condemns this attack and all acts of violence. We stand firmly with the Israeli people against terror.”
Following the attempted attack, both Hamas and Islamic Jihad praised the attempt to target Israeli civilians. A source with Islamic Jihad told Ma’an news agency he hoped the attack “could usher the resumption of suicide attacks.”
Officials have pointed out the similarity between Sunday’s attack and an attack on a Tel Aviv bus in November of 2012, on the last day of the IDF’s counterterrorism Operation Pillar of Defense.