One killed, at least 14 injured after twin blasts near bus stops in Jerusalem

Two blasts went off near bus stops in Jerusalem on Wednesday killing one person and injuring at least 14 in what police said were suspected attacks by PalestiniansThe first explosion occurred near a bus stop on the edge of the city where commuters usually crowd waiting for busesThe second went off in Ramot a neighbourhood in the citys north Police said one person died from the wounds and Israels rescue service Magen David Adom said four people were seriously wounded in the blastsThe apparent attacks came as IsraeliPalestinian tensions are high following months of Israeli raids in the occupied West Bank prompted by a spate of deadly attacks against Israelis that killed 19 peopleThere has been an uptick in recent weeks in Palestinian attacksAlso Read USIsrael joint pledge to deny Iran nuclear weaponryThe violence also comes as former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is holding coalition talks after national elections and is likely to form whats expected to be Israels most rightwing governmentPolice said their initial findings showed that explosive devices were placed at the two sitesThe twin blasts occurred amid the buzz of rush hour traffic and police closed part of a main highway leading out of the city where the fist explosion went off Video from shortly after the first blast showed debris strewn along the sidewalk as the wail of ambulances blaredIt was a crazy explosion There is damage everywhere here Yosef Haim Gabay a medic who was at the scene when the first blast occurred told Israeli Army Radio I saw people with wounds bleeding all over the placeWhile Palestinians have carried out stabbings car rammings and shootings in recent years bombing attacks have become very rare since the end of a Palestinian uprising nearly two decades agoThe Islamic militant Hamas which rules the Gaza Strip and once carried out suicide bombings against Israelis praised the perpetrators of the attacks calling it a heroic operation but stopped short of claiming responsibilityThe occupation is reaping the price of its crimes and aggression against our people Hamas spokesman Abd alLatif alQanua saidItamar BenGvir an extremist lawmaker who has called for the death penalty for Palestinian attackers and who is set to become the minister in charge of police under Netanyahu said the attack gave him impetus to take a tougher stance on Palestinian attackersIts time to take a hard line against terrorists its time to make order he tweetedMore than 130 Palestinians have been killed in IsraeliPalestinian fighting in the West Bank and east Jerusalem this year making 2022 the deadliest year since 2006 The Israeli army says most of the Palestinians killed have been militants But stonethrowing youths protesting the incursions and others not involved in confrontations have also been killedAt least five more Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks in recent weeksThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever