Main events on February 20th
- Three empty buses have exploded in the city of Bat Yam, south of Tel Aviv, in what Israeli police are saying is a suspected “terror” attack. No casualties have been reported.
- There were five devices that were intended to detonate simultaneously, but only three exploded, according to Israeli media reports.
- The attacks have “paralysed public transportation” in Tel Aviv on a busy, pre-weekend day, while the city remains “on edge”, Israeli political analyst Akiva Eldar told Al Jazeera.
- In response to the explosions, Defence Minister Israel Katz has ordered Israeli forces to “increase the intensity of activities to thwart terrorism” in the occupied West Bank, as he named the Tulkarem refugee camp specifically.
- Hamas has returned the bodies of four Israeli captives – including Shiri Bibas and her two young children – to Israel, handing them over to the Red Cross in Khan Younis, southern Gaza.
- The Israeli military has shot and killed a Palestinian man who was inspecting his home in Gaza City’s Shujayea area, claiming he posed “an immediate threat” to its forces.
Israel pledges military response as bus bombing investigation underway
The Israeli police and other security services are still conducting an investigation into three separate explosions that targeted buses in the larger Tel Aviv area. No injuries resulted from those explosions.
Fingers in Israel are pointing to the northern occupied West Bank, particularly Tulkarem, where a large-scale Israeli offensive has been going on for almost a month, displacing thousands of Palestinians.
It is the largest military offensive on the area since the occupation began in 1967.
No leads have been shared with the public and no official claim of responsibility by any Palestinian group.
The Israeli prime minister is saying that he is following up on this issue, receiving updates from the security establishment, considering this to be a very grave attack, a very concerning attack.
I'm not a fan of conspiracy theories, but this does reek of a false flag operation. I wouldn't put it past Hamas / PIJ to do something like this, but they have never shown to be this incompetent in execution. And for what reason? Just after Hamas signals they want to commit to an expedited exchange deal of hostages and move on to phase 2 of the ceasefire. Why would Hamas shoot themselves in the foot now?
Nah the only ones to gain from this 'attack' are Netanyahu and Trump.
Israel says body of captive is not Shiri Bibas, accuses Hamas of ‘violation of utmost severity’
The Israeli military has accused Hamas of committing a “violation of utmost severity”, after it said forensic tests revealed that one of four bodies returned by the Palestinian group on Thursday was not that of captive Shiri Bibas.
“During the identification process, it was determined that the additional body received is not that of Shiri Bibas, and no match was found for any other hostage. This is an anonymous, unidentified body,” the military said in a statement.
The Israeli military added that it had identified Ariel Bibas, who it said was “four years old at the time of his death”, as well as Kfir Bibas, who it said was “ten months old at the time of his death”.
The Israeli military did not comment on the fourth body returned, that of journalist and peace activist Oded Lifshitz.
Again, why would Hamas (intentionally) return the wrong body. What could they possibly have to gain by this kind of 'deception'. The most likely is, hostages and others got killed in an air strike, either directly or indirectly trapped in the rubble. Without ways of identification, mix ups are bound to happen.
Everything feels engineered to prevent any movement towards phase 2 of the (not really a) ceasefire.
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