Two explosions at bus stops on Jerusalem's outskirts killed one person and wounded at least 14 others on Wednesday (November 23), health officials said, in what Israeli police said appeared to be an attack by Palestinian militants, Reuters reports.
They blamed the initial blast, which occurred during rush hour, on an explosive device planted at a bus station near the city exit. The second - about 30 minutes later - hit a bus stop in the vicinity of an urban settlement in the east of the city.
Police spokesman Eli Levi told Army Radio the first blast was caused by a powerful explosive device.
Israeli army radio said the explosive devices were hidden in bags and at least one of them contained nails to maximise the impact.
Israel's ambulance service said 12 people had been taken to hospital from the first blast and three people were wounded in the second explosion. One of the wounded died in hospital, the Shaare Zedek Medical Center said.
The explosions, which carry echoes of the bus bombings that were a hallmark of the Palestinian revolt of 2000-2005, follow months of tension in the occupied West Bank after the Israeli military launched a crackdown in the wake of a series of deadly attacks in Israel.
In Gaza, a spokesman for the Palestinian militant group Hamas praised the Jerusalem explosions but stopped short of claiming responsibility.
The explosions came as former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu negotiates with allies to form a new right-wing government including members of religious and far-right parties.
