2016 Jerusalem bus bombing

On 18 April 2016, at approximately 18:00, a bomb exploded aboard an Egged bus (route #12) in the Talpiot neighborhood of Jerusalem. The blast also set fire to a nearby, mostly empty bus and a car parked close by. At least 21 people were injured in the attack, two of them critically. Most of the casualties were passengers on the targeted bus. This was reported as the first bombing attack on a bus in Jerusalem since 2011.

Following the explosion, a police forensic team recovered remnants of a bomb from the wreckage at the scene. Israeli authorities placed the ensuing investigation under a gag order, limiting what could be publicly reported about its progress.

The person responsible for planting the device was identified as Abdul Hamid Abu Srour, a 19-year-old member of Hamas. Abu Srour lost several limbs in the blast and died in hospital several days afterward. Police did not immediately confirm whether one of the hospitalized individuals following the attack was the bomber. Hamas subsequently acknowledged that Abu Srour belonged to the organization's West Bank branch, referring to him as a "martyr," though the group stopped short of formally claiming responsibility for the bombing itself.

The attack drew a range of reactions. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed retaliation, stating: "We will locate those who prepared this explosive device. We will reach the dispatchers. We will also reach those behind them. We will settle the score with these terrorists."

On the Palestinian side, responses were mixed. A Hamas spokesman in Gaza praised the bombing, saying the group "blesses the Jerusalem operation," and mosques in Gaza reportedly welcomed the attack over loudspeakers. Another Hamas spokesman, Husam Badran, said the attack "affirms to everyone that our people will not abandon the resistance path." Islamic Jihad also praised the bombing. In contrast, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the attack, stating, "we are against all forms of terrorist activity that affect Israeli and Palestinian civilians," and reaffirmed that Palestinians sought "an end to the occupation and the building of settlements through diplomatic means, and through peaceful resistance."

This dossier is based primarily on a Wikipedia summary of the event, corroborated by contemporaneous reporting from The Washington Post and The Guardian, though the specific text of those two articles was not available for direct review in compiling this account.