WarSclerotic

Defense Minister Ehud Barak says he expects “a complete honoring of the agreements” by Hamas. Barak also says that Israeli security forces will “keep alert” over the next couple of hours and that the objectives of operation Pillar of Defense were fully realized. “Hamas and Jihad suffered a painful blow”, says the Defense Minister .

Sirens blare in Sderot, minutes after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finishes announcing the ceasefire reached with Hamas.

IDF Spokesperson Brig. Gen. Yoav Mordechai says that Operation Pillar of Defense is officially over and that reserve soldiers will begin to be released home. He adds, however, that tens of thousands of reservists remain at the ready, and that Israel won’t judge victory by the events of the coming days, but by the coming weeks and months.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to the press as the Israel-Hamas ceasefire takes effect in the Gaza Strip. He says that he is taking the opportunity to stabilize the situation and bring calm to the region before resorting to use of greater force.

“Terrorist organizations [in the Gaza Strip] assumed that [Israel] wouldn’t attack,” Netanyahu says. “They were wrong.”

He emphasizes that Operation Pillar of Defense decimated Hamas’s terrorist infrastructure, killing many of the group’s commanders and operatives, and destroyed thousands of rockets and many rocket launchers.

He expresses his deep appreciation for US President Barack Obama for his strong support of Israel during Pillar of Defense, and for his contribution to the Iron Dome missile defense system. He reiterates that Israel will do whatever it takes to defend its citizens.

“Since [Israel’s] founding, we have faced complex challenges in the Middle East. In the last few years, this complexity increased greatly,” he says. “We must take into account all of the military and political considerations as one. That is how a responsible government behaves, and that is how we behaved this time as well.”

He says a more extensive military operation “may yet be demanded,” and that ultimately Israel’s goals remain as stated when this operation began: achieving long-term calm for the residents of southern Israel.

A Channel 2 snap poll finds that 70 percent of the Israeli public does not support signing a ceasefire with Hamas, while 24% are in favor of it. Six percent say they don’t know.

Asked how long they believe the ceasefire will hold, 64% say they think it will last a short while, 24% say it won’t last at all and 7% say it will last for a long time.

Asked if Operation Pillar of Defense reinstated Israel’s deterrence, 58% say it has been strengthened, 15% say it was weakened and 26% say it hasn’t changed.

The BBC publishes what it says is a copy of the written ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel:

Understanding regarding ceasefire in Gaza Strip:
1. a. Israel shall stop all hostilities on the Gaza Strip land, sea, and air, including incursions and targeting of individuals.

b. All Palestinian factions shall stop all hostilities against Israel, including rocket attacks, and attacks along the border.

c. Opening the crossings and facilitating the movement of people and transfer of goods, and refraining from restricting residents free movement, and targeting residents in border areas and procedures of implementation shall be dealt with after 24 hours from the start of the ceasefire.

d. Other matters as maybe requested shall be addressed.

2. Implementation Mechanism:
a. Setting up of the zero hour for teh ceasefure understanding to enter into effect.

b. Egypt shall receive assurances from each party that the party commits to what was agreed upon.

c. Each party shall commit itself not to perform any acts that would breach this understanding. in case of any observations, Egypt — as the sponsor of this understinding — shall be informed to follow up.

Former foreign Minister Tzipi Livni says that it is the time to think about the future. “What’s needed now is to change the rule of the game and look to our partner in the East: Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The results of the conflict has strengthened Hamas… the only way to change reality and avoid a more violent repetition is to enter negotiations with the Palestinians,” says Livni.

Livni is refusing to answer questions about her possible return to politics. ahead of the upcoming elections.

According to a copy of the Egyptian mediated ceasefire agreement, Israel will end its policy of assassinating top Hamas officials, while Hamas promises to halt all rocket fire by the many terrorist groups operating in the Gaza Strip.

As part of the agreement, Israel also pledges to ease its blockade of Gaza, after a brief cooling off period.

Numerous rockets have been fired in the past several minutes at towns and cities across southern Israel. Sirens have been blaring nonstop.

Rockets have scored direct hits on a house in Beersheba and Ashdod, and at least six rockets have been intercepted over Beersheba and one over Ashdod.

Another hit is reported in the town of Netivot. No injuries or damage are reported at the moment.

Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor says that Israel accomplished its targets of Operation Pillar of Defense. “We reached a ceasefire agreement within days. Now we have to see that things remain quiet,” says Meridor.

Meridor says that Israel never negotiated directly with Hamas and that all talks were mediated by third parties Egypt and the US.

“We still see Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Authority as the official voice of the Palestinian people,” he says.

Meridor adds that the IDF met its objectives, while causing minimal harm to non-combatants.

He warned that even after the ceasefire deadline, it is possible that southern Israel will continue to experience sporadic rocket fire.

The White House issues a statement reporting on US President Barack Obama’s recent phone conversation with Prime Minister Netanyahu.

“The President expressed his appreciation for the Prime Minister’s efforts to work with the new Egyptian government to achieve a sustainable ceasefire and a more durable solution to this problem” reads the statement.

“The President commended the Prime Minister for agreeing to the Egyptian ceasefire proposal – which the President recommended the Prime Minster do – while reiterating that Israel maintains the right to defend itself.”

The statement adds that Obama said the US would use the opportunity offered by a ceasefire to intensify efforts to help Israel address its security needs, especially the issue of the smuggling of weapons and explosives into Gaza.

“The President said that he was committed to seeking additional funding for Iron Dome and other US-Israel missile defense programs.”

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohammed Kamel Amr announce an Israel-Hamas ceasefire which will take effect at 9 p.m. local time.

According to Reuters, truce includes end to assassinations and incursions, and easing of movement for Palestinians.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, and Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman are expected to hold a press conference later this evening.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has agreed “to give the Egyptian ceasefire proposal a chance,” his office announces. This would allow the situation “to stabilize and to calm” before the need would have arisen to expand Operation Pillar of Defense.

Netanyahu says Israel reserves the right to “take all necessary steps to protect its citizens.”

The last rockets to hit Israel exploded near Shaar Hanegev and Ashkelon around 7:30 p.m.

BBC correspondent Paul Danahar in Gaza reports that news of the ceasefire was met with celebratory gunfire in the Gaza Strip.

@pdanahar

Paul Danahar

It will be announced in Cairo by President Morsi . Gunfire has just started in #Gaza

33 minutes ago via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite

Two rockets fired from the Gaza Strip land in open areas in the Hof Ashkelon and Sha’ar Hanegev regions.

No injuries or damage reported.

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will announce a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip at a press conference at 8 p.m. in Cairo, Reuters reports.

An Israeli source tells Reuters that the agreement does not include lifting the blockade on the Gaza Strip.

A senior Hamas negotiator in Cairo confirms to the BBC in Gaza that a ceasefire deal has been reached and will take effect at 9 p.m. Israel time.

The Prime Minister’s Office has refused to respond to The Times of Israel’s inquiries about reports of a ceasefire agreement.

Four of the Israelis injured in the Eshkol region in the past hour are IDF soldiers, according to the Israeli press. Earlier reports indicated that as many as seven Israelis were injured following a rocket attack in the area bordering the Gaza Strip.

AP reports that Pakistan’s foreign minister has condemned what he calls Israel’s “aggression” against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Hina Rabanni Khar spoke Wednesday ahead of a summit for eight developing countries in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad.

A government statement says the conflict in Gaza will likely be a hot topic in discussions between Pakistani leaders and those visiting for the D-8 summit, which will be held on Thursday.

Pakistan says participants will include Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Senior leaders from Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia and Nigeria will also attend.

Egyptian officials have said Egypt, Iran and Turkey will also meet on the sidelines of the summit to discuss the conflict in Syria.

Channel 2′s Arab affairs expert Ehud Ya’ari says he has been receiving calls from civilian sources in Gaza telling him that they understand Israel’s targeting of terrorists, but that too many innocents are being hit.

A meeting of nine Israeli cabinet ministers over the future of the Gaza operation has ended. There appears to be no dramatic change in the course of the military offensive.

The inner security forum convened at 2:30 p.m. and the meeting ended just before 6 p.m.

Members of the inner cabinet conclude their meeting in Jerusalem.

Channel 2′s Udi Segal says that the first message to come out of the meeting is that Israel would not carry out a unilateral ceasefire, as was reported elsewhere.

Segal adds that the ministers’ decisions regarding a possible ceasefire were dispatched to government representatives in Cairo.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is reportedly on his way back to Israel from Egypt.

Reuters quotes Ban saying that there were “many details to work out” before a ceasefire could be reached. “But while that happens civilians continue to die.”

“I am particularly concerned about the spiral of violence at the time of intense efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza and Israel,” Ban says, speaking after a meeting with Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi.

An unconfirmed report says that two suspects have been arrested on Route 443 near Shilat Junction on suspicion of involvement in today’s Tel Aviv bombing. The road has been opened to traffic.

The United States Embassy in Israel has advised its employees to “remain at home until the Israeli National Police gives an all clear.” It further advises all American citizens in Israel to “monitor local news reports for the latest information” regarding developments concerning the security situation in Israel.

Channel 2 TV’s political analyst says Israel does not want a written ceasefire deal with the Hamas, but rather an informal arrangement.

Israel’s government believes a written deal would be “like a deal with the mafia,” Segal says.

Israel does not want formal guarantees from Egypt, because that would risk involving Egypt in the next round of Gaza violence, risking a historic peace agreement that Israel sees as a “strategic asset.”

Israel is currently ratcheting up its strikes in Gaza to show Hamas that dragging its feet on a ceasefire will cost it dearly, he says.

If Hamas ceases shooting, so will Israel, he says. The quiet will then be tested over a period of days or weeks, after which Israel might consider a gesture to Hamas like green-lighting the full opening of the Gaza-Egypt border terminal at Rafah.

In return, Egypt would promise to cut off the flow of rockets into Gaza, he says.

A delegation from the Rabbinical Council of America, the world’s largest organization of Orthodox rabbis, is in the south to express support for Israel.

“I sense a personal and communal need — as well as a need for American Jewry in general — to overcome our distance and disconnection from Israel,” Daniel Yolkut of Congregation Poale Zedeck in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, said Wednesday.

The 25-person delegation has visited sites throughout the south, including an indoor playground in Sderot, a building in Kiryat Malachi where three civilians were killed this week, hospitals, and army bases.

The police have set up roadblocks and checkpoints on the major highways leading out of Tel Aviv in response to the terrorist attack on a bus in Tel Aviv earlier today.

Routes 1, 4, and 443 are backed up considerably as Israeli security forces comb the area in search for the perpetrator of the bombing. According to a Times of Israel correspondent on the scene, traffic has been at a standstill on Route 443, the main artery between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, for over an hour.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle condemns the attack in Tel Aviv.

“Our feelings are with the victims and their families. We wish those who were injured a speedy recovery,” he says in a statement.

Westerwelle last night returned to Berlin after concluding a two-day trip to the Middle East, during which he engaged in serious shuttle diplomacy in an effort to help broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

16:33

One of the houses damaged earlier today in the Be’er Tuvia region was hit for the second time in a matter of days, Ynet reports. Several days ago a rocket exploded several meters from the house and sprayed it with shrapnel; today the house suffered extensive damage after a Grad rocket fired from the Gaza Strip struck the courtyard.

Haya, 83, who lives alone in her house, stood in the hallway when the rocket hit, Ynet reports. She says that workers had just finished cleaning up the broken glass and debris from the last attack when the second rocket hit.

“The explosion was massive,” she tells Ynet. “All of the glass shattered around me and I saw fire and smoke before my eyes. I feared that the gas [line] would explode, but my daughter arrived and hugged me and helped me get out.”

AP reports: An Iranian news agency says the head of Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard has disclosed his country has given fighters in Gaza the ability to produce longer-range missiles on their own, without direct shipments.

The comments by Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari, quoted by the semiofficial ISNA news agency, offer some of the clearest insights on Iran’s weapons support for Hamas, whose Iranian-engineered Fajr-5 missiles have struck near Tel Aviv and Jerusalem during weeklong battles with Israel.

The report Wednesday quotes Jafari as saying Iran has supplied technology to Gaza for the missiles to be produced “quickly.”

Up to now, Iran denied it directly supplied Hamas with the Fajr-5.

Iran also backs the anti-Israel faction Hezbollah in Lebanon, which fired thousands of rockets into Israel during a monthlong 2006 war.

With Israel’s senior ministers convened in Jerusalem to deliberate the latest developments, including the bombing of a Tel Aviv bus, a senior Israeli official tells Israel Radio that a ceasefire may yet be in the cards for today, although he didn’t rule out that the announcement would be delayed.

Hours after the blast, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrives in Cairo and enters talks with Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, who has been taking the lead in mediating between Israel and Hamas.

In Jerusalem, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the administration “strongly condemns” the Tel Aviv bombing.

“As I arrive in Cairo, I am closely monitoring reports from Tel Aviv, and we will stay in close contact with Prime Minister Netanyahu’s team,” she says. “The United States stands ready to provide any assistance that Israel requires.”

Meanwhile, UK Foreign Office Under Secretary of State Alistair Burt meets with Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman at the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem. He condemns the terrorist attack in Tel Aviv and expresses “deepest sympathies.”

The Times of Israel’s Mitch Ginsburg has looked into the means by which Hamas has acquired its 10,000-strong rocket arsenal.

It is a hodgepodge of projectiles, he writes, ranging from “primitive tubes with a microwave computer” — according to aviation and airborne terror expert Hillel Avihai — to SA-7 surface-to-air missiles and Iranian-made Fajr-5 rockets. Some were smuggled into Gaza, others created there. All told, they are the heart of the Palestinian territory’s offensive capacity.

Unlike a standard army, in which rockets and mortars provide support for the forward troops, Hamas’s doctrine, based on targeting civilians and protecting against an invading army, calls for the deployment of curved-trajectory weapons as a primary offensive tool, with foot-soldiers relegated to defensive tasks.

As a military tool, this doctrine is a failure: the thousands of Izz a-Din al-Qassam Brigade foot-soldiers were not up to the task of halting or even significantly harming Israeli troops during Operation Cast Lead in 2009, and the threat of rocket fire was insufficient to stop the army from invading. As a terror tool, however, Hamas’s curved-trajectory weapons remain devastatingly effective: normal life has been paralyzed throughout the ongoing operation; fear among civilians is widespread; and Hamas, through the strategic use of violence and the targeting of civilians, has pushed its agenda to the center of the international stage.

The Union of European Football Associations has postponed a Europa League game between Hapoel Kiryat Shmona and Spanish team Athletic Bilbao due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, AP reports. The match was to take place tomorrow in Haifa.

The UEFA says they are unsure about the scheduling of another event, the draw for the Under-21 European Championships, to take place next week in Tel Aviv and to be attended by a host of European officials.

The Under-21 European Championships are scheduled for June 2013 in Israel.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius condemns “in the strongest terms” the attack in Tel Aviv, “targeting civilians at a time when everything must be done on order to reach a cease-fire.”

Fabius, who was in Israel this week, says he will again speak to his Israeli, US and Egyptian counterparts to offer assistance in brokering a ceasefire.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the French Foreign Ministry says Paris is “extremely concerned” about the ongoing violence in Gaza and Israel.

The spokesperson also refers to various incidents in which Palestinian journalists were reportedly hit by Israeli air strikes in Gaza.

“France reaffirms its commitment to freedom of the press and the protection of journalists,” the spokesperson says.

Udi Segal on Channel 2 says Israel’s inner forum of nine ministers is convening now, with the same dilemmas it has faced for the last couple of days — whether to go for a ceasefire or step up Operation Pillar of Defense. If the former, he says, Israel does not want a written agreement but rather verbal understandings.

He says Hillary Clinton, shuttling between Jerusalem, Ramallah and Cairo, is pressing Mohammed Morsi, who in turn is pressing Hamas. To be brutal, he says, the US is telling Morsi, “Either there’s an agreement, or your US aid check won’t be coming. Congress simply won’t approve it.”

Segal says that the Tel Aviv bombing does not drastically change the picture for the ministers meeting in Jerusalem, even though it has likely stoked some Israelis’ passions for an intensified assault on Hamas.

Hundreds of people were participating in the funeral of Yosef Fartuk, the 18-year-old IDF soldier who was killed in a rocket attack on a kibbutz in the Eshkol region on Tuesday.

The funeral was being held in the Gival Shaul cemetery in Jerusalem. Following the request of Fartuk’s ultra-Orthodox family, the army did not insist on a military ceremony.

The Israeli Air Force has stepped up strikes across the Gaza Strip in the wake of Wednesday’s bus bombing, Channel 2 is reporting.

Ehud Ya’ari, the channel’s Arab affairs expert, says Israeli aircraft are bombing targets from Rafah, at the territory’s southern edge, to neighborhoods north of Gaza City.

Yaari says “tens of thousands” of Palestinians have fled their homes in Gaza in recent hours, fearing Israeli retaliation for the Tel Aviv bombing. They are seeking shelter in schools and other facilities run by the United Nations in the Palestinian territory, he said.

Ban Ki-moon has condemned the terror attack in Tel Aviv: “The Secretary-General was shocked at the news of the terror attack on a bus today in the center of Tel Aviv. He condemns this attack in the strongest possible terms. There are no circumstances that justify the targeting of civilians. The Secretary-General is saddened and expresses his sympathy to those injured in the blast.”

Tuesday evening at the Ahavath Achim synagogue in Atlanta. A crowd of 2,700 from the Jewish and Christian communities gathered. Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed spoke about his sincere support for Israel; Israel’s SE Consul General Opher Aviran also spoke, as did Rev. Jay Bailey, the leader of Christians United for Israel.

Ban Ki-moon has condemned the terror attack in Tel Aviv: “The Secretary-General was shocked at the news of the terror attack on a bus today in the center of Tel Aviv. He condemns this attack in the strongest possible terms. There are no circumstances that justify the targeting of civilians. The Secretary-General is saddened and expresses his sympathy to those injured in the blast.”

Tuesday evening at the Ahavath Achim synagogue in Atlanta. A crowd of 2,700 from the Jewish and Christian communities gathered. Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed spoke about his sincere support for Israel; Israel’s SE Consul General Opher Aviran also spoke, as did Rev. Jay Bailey, the leader of Christians United for Israel.

From Elhanan Miller:

Hamas is expressing joy over the bus explosion in Tel Aviv, calling it a “valiant and courageous operation” and a “natural response to the aggression against Gaza,” the Palestinian Quds Press news agency reports.

The bomb that exploded on a Tel Aviv bus at midday, wounding 21, was a relatively small device of three kilograms (6.6 pounds), Channel 2 reports.

Israeli authorities have yet to name the organization they believe carried out the attack.

Raphael Ahren reports that the White House has just condemned the Tel Aviv bus attack.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those injured, and with the people of Israel,” White House press secretary Jay Carney said, according to US media reports. “These attacks against innocent Israeli civilians are outrageous.”

“The United States will stand with our Israeli allies, and provide whatever assistance is necessary to identify and bring to justice the perpetrators of this attack. The United States reaffirms our unshakeable commitment to Israel’s security and our deep friendship and solidarity with the Israeli people.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s inner forum of nine senior ministers are convened to discuss the terror attack in Tel Aviv.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton lands in Cairo, where ceasefire negotiations have been taking place.

Deputy Knesset Speaker MK Ahmad Tibi of the Ta’al party condemns the Gazan celebrations of the Tel Aviv bus bombing via Twitter, and expresses his opposition to the targeting of civilians.

@Ahmad_tibi

Ahmad Tibi

To express happiness to the explosion in a bus in Tel aviv is horrible. Targiting civilians : Noooooo !

7 minutes ago via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite

Iran has confirmed its military aid to Hamas, Al Jazeera reports.

“We are proud to defend the people of Palestine and Hamas,” Iranian parliament speaker Ali Larijani reportedly says on the Iranian parliament’s website. “Our assistance to them has been both financial and military,” he adds, without providing details.

A Hamas spokesman in Gaza is praising the Tel Aviv bombing, Reuters reports. The news agency also reports celebrations in Gaza.

“Hamas blesses the attack in Tel Aviv and sees it as a natural response to the Israeli massacres,” spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters.

“Palestinian factions will resort to all means in order to protect our Palestinian civilians in the absence of a world effort to stop the Israeli aggression,” he said.

He did not say Hamas was behind the attack. Israeli authorities have yet to name the Palestinian group they believe carried it out.

Reuters reported that sweet cakes were handed out in celebration at Gaza’s main hospital in response to news of the bombing.

Three Hamas members at a rocket launching site in Khan Younis are killed by an IAF strike in Gaza, Walla reports.

Four rockets are fired at Beersheba. One is intercepted by Iron Dome, three fall in open areas.

A passenger on the bus attacked Wednesday reported that a dark, chubby man wearing a green and yellow sweater got off the bus one stop before the explosion, an eyewitness tells Channel 2 News.

It is unclear if the perpetrator is in police custody.

The eyewitness, a security guard at the nearby Justice Ministry building, rushed to the scene and spoke with one of the passengers before she was taken to hospital. She described the man as “suspicious,” he said, speaking to a crew from Channel 2 News.

The security guard says he passed the information to police.

He says he and other security guards gave first aid to the wounded and put out a fire on the bus with fire extinguishers in the minutes before police arrived.

Like other eyewitnesses, he said he initially believed the explosion was a rocket that had hit Tel Aviv.

Channel 2 reports that the bomb that ripped through the city bus was not large. Initial reports of an additional bomb at the scene are unfounded, according to the station.

AP reports that the pope has joined the chorus of voices calling for a ceasefire in Gaza:

Pope Benedict XVI says he is praying for victims of the conflict between Israel and Gaza militants and gives his encouragement for efforts to obtain a cease-fire and negotiations.

He tells his weekly public audience Wednesday that “hate and violence are not the solution for problems,” receiving applause from pilgrims in the Paul VI auditorium.

Benedict calls on both sides “to make courageous decisions in favor of peace” and end a conflict with “negative repercussions in the entire Middle East.”

13:53

Raphael Ahren reports: 

The first reactions to the Tel Aviv bus bombing are coming in from the political echelon, and, naturally, they differ, depending on what side of the spectrum they inhabit.

The far right understands the terror attack as a call for a ground invasion into Gaza. Likud MK and Deputy Knesset Speaker Danny Danon says he called Prime Minister Netanyahu and urged him to “declare war on terrorism” — in other words, to intensify Operation Pillar of Defense.

“The time for restraint is over,” Danon says. “It is time for us to initiate ‘Defensive Shield 2′ against the sources of terror in Gaza, Judea and Samaria, just like we did in 2002. At the same time, we must identify and apprehend those within Israel’s borders who cooperate with the terrorists.”

Dov Khenin, an MK for the far-left Hadash party, condemns the attack in Tel Aviv, saying “any deliberate targeting of civilians is a crime.” But in a statement released on Facebook, he seems to blame the government for pursuing a misguided policy to stop terrorism: “It hurts so much to have to again say that wars do not bring security. If we won’t be able to reach a [peace] agreement here, we will slide back to the very dark days.”

The driver of the bus attacked by a Palestinian bomber Wednesday says he did not see the perpetrator.

“I didn’t see anything. Suddenly there was an explosion,” the driver told reporters at Ichilov Medical Center, where he was taken for medical tests. He was not wounded.

The driver identified himself only as Nahum.

He said that from the driver’s seat he could not even tell if the blast came from inside the bus or outside. The bomb was likely placed on the vehicle from the door in the center, not from the front, he said.

He said the bus was not overly full at the time of the explosion.

He helped a wounded female soldier off the bus before he was treated himself, he said.

13:50

Israel’s ambassador to the US has issued a condemnation of the attack in Tel Aviv:

@AmbassadorOren

Michael B. Oren

I condemn the horrendous bombing attack on a Tel Aviv bus & wish a full & swift recovery to the many wounded. Terror will not defeat us.

16 minutes ago via webReplyRetweetFavorite

The IAF bombed al-Yarmouk soccer stadium in Gaza City within the last several minutes, according to reports. Al Jazeera says that there were at least 10 explosions.

The BBC’s Paul Danahar reports that rockets were being launched into Israel from the stadium grounds.

@pdanahar

Paul Danahar

attack was on football stadium, perhaps because rockets are fired from there

25 minutes ago via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite

Minister Silvan Shalom briefs a group of Jewish activists on the situation in Gaza. He says Israel will consider sending ground forces to the Strip if a truce cannot be agreed to.

“We’re looking for an acceptable proposal,” says Shalom. “We want to bring safety, security and quiet to our people in the south. The people [in the south] tell me, ‘We can stay in the shelters for one month, two months but we want you to stop it forever’.”

“We’re not happy to take this option,” adds the minister, “but if we don’t have any other choice that is what we will do.”

Shalom was speaking to World ORT, a London-based Jewish community group that advocates international cooperation programs and vocational training. For example, it delivers laptops to disadvantaged students living under rocket fire in southern Israel.

In what is either a mistake in interpreting the Hebrew reports, or a deliberate attempt at misinformation, Hamas is claiming that three Israelis were killed in the attack.

@AlqassamBrigade

Alqassam Brigades

#Israelibus exploded near Kirya base in heart of Tel Aviv.3 killed 17 people injured; 10 sustain serious injuries, the rest lightly wounded

12 minutes ago via webReplyRetweetFavorite

Earlier this week, the IDF published a video

On Saturday , the IDF released a video aiming to disprove Hamas claims of damage wreaked upon Israel, and Israeli damage wreaked upon civilians.

Footage from inside the bus attacked Wednesday shows that it was badly damaged by the blast.

All of its windows were blown out, and many of its purple-colored seats shredded.

The bus is currently being towed away by the bus company, leaving rubble and shattered glass behind on the street.

Bomb squad personnel are picking up fragments and placing them in clear plastic bags.

All casualties have been evacuated.

13:32

Police chief Yohanan Danino says police have been aware of the possibility of a terror attack in one of Israel’s cities since the outbreak of fighting in the south, and calls on Israelis to heighten their awareness in coming days.

Terror organizations “have the motivation to find any way to carry out attacks inside cities, certainly large cities, with Tel Aviv one of the most central,” he told reporters after Wednesday’s attack.

Police are sifting through reports that the terrorist behind the bombing escaped, he said. “Our job is to catch such a terrorist if there is one, and if not, to continue to be prepared.”

Danino said that while the Israeli public has been taking precautions against rocket attacks from Gaza, Israelis must take into account the possibility of other kinds of terrorism.

“Don’t forget that there are other threats,” he said. “These are not ordinary days.”

In the past hour, rockets fired from Gaza have fallen in the Bnei Shimon area, in the Merhavim region and near Kiryat Gat. There were no initial reports of casualties.

The trucks contained more than 100 warheads designed for Grad rockets and a variety of small-arms ammunition, likely smuggled from Libya. The smugglers themselves fled the scene and were not apprehended.

The Azrieli Center, one of the largest malls in Tel Aviv, has been closed by police as a security precaution in the wake of Wednesday’s bus bombing, Channel 2 is reporting.

The Azrieli Center is near the site of the bombing, which wounded at least 16 Israelis, according to reports.

BBC reporter in Gaza Rushdi Abualouf says Hamas is touting the Tel Aviv bombing over mosque loudspeakers:

@Rushdibbc

Rushdi Abualouf

#Hamas announced over loudspeakers from mosques in #Gaza“Qassam Brigades were able to place bomb on bus in #TelAviv, despite tight security

14 minutes ago via webReplyRetweetFavorite

Police are warning crowds near the scene of Wednesday’s bus attack that they will shortly conduct a controlled explosion of a suspicious object found nearby, according to a Times of Israel reporter at the scene.

The nature of the object is unclear. There have been unconfirmed reports of other planned attacks in wake of the bombing of the city bus mid-day.

Magen David Adom’s director Eli Bean: “There are no fatalities in the Tel Aviv bus blast. One person is seriously hurt, with shrapnel in all parts of his body.”  Four others are moderately  injured. Five or six others are lightly hurt. “The incident is over as far as we are concerned. The bus did not have many people on it. There are other terror warnings in other places.”

Army Radio says the bus was a Dan 142. A few minutes further along its route it would have been in a more crowded area, at the Tel Aviv train station. The blast took place one stop before.

Crowds are growing near the site of Wednesday’s terror attack in Tel Aviv, according to a Times of Israel reporter at the scene.

The attack took place near the Kirya base, the headquarters of the Israeli military. There were large numbers of soldiers and emergency personnel around the city bus targeted by the blast. Its front window was shattered.

Police were clearing onlookers away from the scene.

Iran expert Meir Javandafar says: “If today’s suicide bomber in Tel Aviv was from Islamic Jihad it would be a strong indication Iran is trying to scuttle ceasefire talks, as it is in Iran’s interest for the current conflict between Gaza and Israel to continue.

“In fact, Iran would very much like to see a ground invasion of Gaza by Israel. This would have several advantages for Iran — it would distract the international community’s attention away from Iran’s nuclear program while causing much damage to Israel’s diplomatic standing, relations with Egypt and its economy.”

Hamas claims responsibility for bus bombing. BBC Correspondent Jon Donnison uploads an audio clip to his Twitter feed of cheers and celebratory gunfire in Gaza after the bombing.

Channel 2 News reports Palestinians also celebrating the bombing and “handing out candy” outside Ramallah in the West Bank.

Bus bombing occurred in downtown Tel Aviv, near the Tel Aviv Courthouse and the Ministry of Defense headquarters, on Shaul Hamelekh Street. The vehicle was a #66 Dan bus.

Wednesday’s bus bombing in Tel Aviv marks the return to the city of sights not seen here for more than six years.

The last Palestinian bombing in Israel’s financial and cultural capital took place in April 2006, when an Islamic Jihad suicide bomber detonated himself at a shwarma restaurant, killing 11 and wounding dozens.

The last suicide bombing in Israel was in February 2008, in the southern town of Dimona. One Israeli was killed.

In recent years, there have been scattered stabbing attacks and attacks using motor vehicles, but bombings in Israel’s cities had all but ceased.

Bus bombing occurred in downtown Tel Aviv, near the Tel Aviv Courthouse, on Shaul Hamelekh Street. The vehicle was a #66 Dan bus.

Wednesday’s bus bombing in Tel Aviv marks the return to the city of sights not seen here for more than six years.

The last Palestinian bombing in Israel’s financial and cultural capital took place in April 2006, when an Islamic Jihad suicide bomber detonated himself at a shwarma restaurant, killing 11 and wounding dozens.

The last suicide bombing in Israel was in February 2008, in the southern town of Dimona. One Israeli was killed.

In recent years, there have been scattered stabbing attacks and attacks using motor vehicles, but bombings in Israel’s cities had all but ceased.

Police are reporting that a second suspect was apprehended in connection with the bombing of the bus.

Channel 2 are saying that there are more indications that the bombing was not a suicide attack.

“It’s a big, huge mess,” says an eyewitness to the scene on Channel 10. “There was a very big boom and a lot of ambulances, it wasn’t clear what happened.”

He says the street where the bombing occurred is near many office buildings and city hall, so there were a lot of people on the streets but he doesn’t know how many were on the bus itself.

Other eyewitnesses say they saw a man placing a bag on the bus and then running off, and nobody was reported to have been found on the bus, so it may not have been a suicide bomber.

Hamas in Gaza is claiming that the attack was perpetrated by a suicide bomber.

According to reports, police are chasing someone who was involved in the attack in Tel Aviv. Drivers in the area are asked to clear the streets to allow police to operate.

Rescue services are saying there were at least 10 casualties, 3 of them serious, in a terror attack on a Tel Aviv bus.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders tell Al-Hayat that Israel offered them a ceasefire for 90 days, during which Gaza’s goodwill would be tested, before hearing their demands.

The Palestinians refuse the offer, citing three points that they demand should accompany the deescalation: a mutual ceasefire, an end to Israel’s assassinations or targeted killings in Gaza, and the immediate opening of the Strip’s border crossings.

Israeli media are reporting an explosion in a bus in Tel Aviv in a possible terror attack. The explosion was on Shaul Hameleh Street in the city. Hamas has threatened to resort to suicide bombings against Israeli civilians in retaliation to Israeli airstrikes in Gaza.

A group of residents being interviewed by Channel 10 in Ashkelon express the desire for IDF actions to continue in Gaza, “until the end.”

“It is hard for us, but we want it to continue,” one man says. “We are strong.”

“Go in with full strength,” another man says. Everyone seems against a cease-fire.

PA President Mahmoud Abbas calls Israel’s operation in Gaza “barbaric,” says he’s been in touch with Hamas and other Palestinian factions in an effort to implement a ceasefire and end Israeli “aggression.”

He says his goal is to defend all Palestinians, in the West Bank and Gaza.

The IDF targets and destroys the central Gazan home of Issam al-Dailies, a close adviser to Hamas PM Ismail Haniyeh, Maan News reports.

In the past half hour, rockets fired from Gaza have fallen in the Eshkol region, at the entrance to a town in the Be’er Tuvia area, and south of Ashkelon. There were no reports of injuries in any of those attacks.

About 4,400 children from southern communities affected by rocket fire have been able to continue attending school elsewhere in the country, Ynet reports.

Schools within a 40-kilometer range of Gaza have generally been closed during the current crisis.

China will host a Palestinian Authority delegation for a three-day visit to discuss the current conflict, according to Hebrew media reports.

Al Jazeera reports that Bassam al-Salhi, Palestinian People’s Party secretary general and PA Minister of Culture, will lead the delegation.

“China is paying great attention to the present situation in Gaza. China has been in close touch with Israel, Palestine and other countries, and has called on all sides, especially Israel, to exercise maximum restraint and cease fire as soon as possible to avoid the situation worsening,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying says in a news briefing.

Hamas’s political leadership outside Gaza is apparently uncomfortable with the brutal execution of six suspected collaborators with Israel, and the subsequent desecration of the bodies, in Gaza City on Tuesday.

An Associated Press reporter saw a mob surrounding five of the bloodied corpses shortly after the killing. Some in the crowd stomped and spat on the bodies. A sixth corpse was tied to a motorcycle and dragged through the streets as people screamed, “Spy! Spy!”

Mousa Abu Marzook, the deputy of Hamas’s political bureau — generally considered more moderate than the organization’s Gaza leadership — has condemned the executions on his Facebook page, saying those responsible should be brought to justice.

Osama Hamdan, another Hamas official who’s based in Lebanon, says Palestinians who are suspected of collaborating with Israel should be tried in court and not summarily executed.

Labor chairwoman Shelly Yachimovich is criticizing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a “temporary and fragile” truce.

Speaking with Channel 1 last night, she said it was a pity that Operation Pillar of Defense’s initial success would be wasted with an unstable truce, and instead called for a “real agreement” with the involvement of the international community.

The Interior Ministry has allocated some 15 million NIS in emergency funds for southern communities affected by the current hostilities, Ynet reports.

A rocket has scored a direct hit on a private residence in the vicinity of Be’er Tuvia, Israel Radio is reporting. Apparently, a woman who was inside the house was pulled out by rescue services. She was unharmed.

Another rocket has fallen in an open area outside Sderot, causing neither casualties nor damage.

The policies of the Iranian government are extremely dangerous and Iran is heavily responsible for conflicts in the Middle-East, including the current Israel-Hamas war, says French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, speaking with AFP.

He adds that the long-rage rockets used by Hamas against Israel are Iranian, and says that negative Iranian influence can be found in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Gaza.

There is a group of protesters outside the Ramallah offices of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Al Jazeera reports.

Visiting US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is to meet with Abbas this morning, continuing her efforts to mediate a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Clinton is also scheduled to meet with Israeli leaders and with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon later today, before moving on to Cairo in the afternoon.

Analyst Aaron David Miller offers five reasons behind the argument that Hamas is gaining traction and legitimacy while Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas flounders, in a new Foreign Policy article, “How Hamas won the war.”

The “Hamas trumps Abbas” dynamic works, Miller argues, because Fatah itself is in disarray after Yasser Arafat’s death, and because the absence of a credible peace process with Israel has only weakened Abbas.

In his second point, Miller describes finding peace in the Middle East as a “domain not of the doves but of hard men who can sometimes be pragmatists,” pointing out that historically, it’s the men with “street cred” who lead both the Israeli and Palestinian sides to peace. Abbas and PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, he says, are lacking in that regard.

Miller also posits that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, given his view of Arabs and Palestinians, feels “more comfortable in the world of Hamas than of Abbas,” a world in which “toughness, security, and defending the Jewish state against Hamas rocket, incitement, and anti-Semitism” fit the premier’s own narrative, that of the heroic defender of Israel.

He also points out that the Islamist Spring, and the regional realignment it ushers in, has boosted Hamas’s standing, particularly as Egypt and Turkey — countries very much in the center of the international community, he points out — now “run interference” for the group.

Finally, Miller notes that Hamas’s rockets — not Abbas’s UN statehood bid — have put the Palestinians on the map again. He concludes by stating: “The conundrum is crystal clear: Hamas won’t make peace with Israel, and Abbas can’t. The way forward is much less so.”

One Palestinian was killed and two were injured in an IAF airstrike near Al-Shaee mosque in the city of Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, Maan is reporting.

Two rockets fired from Gaza have been intercepted in the skies over Beersheba. Two other rockets were shot down over the Ashkelon beach region to the north of the Gaza Strip.

Iron Dome intercepts two rockets fired at Gan Yavne.

Deputy chief of Islamic Jihad, Ziad Nahalla, tells Al-Hayat the group is optimistic about the impending declaration of a truce between Israel and Gaza, and predicts it will be completed with a few hours.

He adds that Egypt is determined to achieve the ceasefire. ”After the Egyptians spoke with the Israelis, they told us they do not want to undermine the truce and that they agreed to our demands, but that they changed the wording of things pertaining to the siege on Gaza and the easing of it,” says Nahalla.

He claims the disagreements between parties are now on the verbal formulations.

The US blocks a planned anti-Pillar of Defense resolution in the United Nations Security Council, saying that such statements do nothing to de-escalate the conflict.

The American mission to the UN opposes a statement brought to the council by the Russians because it “failed to address the root cause” of the current crisis, i.e. rocket fire on Israel’s south, a spokeswoman told Reuters.

“We made clear that we would measure any action by the Security Council based on whether it supported the ongoing diplomacy toward de-escalation of violence and a durable outcome that ends the rocket attacks on Israeli cities,” the spokeswoman said.

Gaza terrorists have fired a second volley of rockets at the coastal city of Ashkelon. Iron Dome intercepted three of the rockets; two others fell in open areas outside the city. There were no reports of injuries or damage.

Another rocket was fired at the Shaar Hanegev region. It landed in an open area.

More sirens in Ashkelon.

Overnight Tuesday, Palestinians attacked Israeli vehicles traveling near the settlement of Kfar Tapuach in the West Bank with Molotov cocktails. Meanwhile, IDF soldiers were firebombed near Bethlehem. There were no injuries in either incident.

Overnight Tuesday, Palestinians attacked Israeli vehicles traveling near the settlement of Kfar Tapuach in the West Bank with Molotov cocktails. Meanwhile, IDF soldiers were firebombed near Bethlehem. There were no injuries in either incident.

A senior Israeli official is saying that there are “substantial difficulties” delaying a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, Israel Radio reports. Still, the official is assessing that an agreement will eventually be hammered out.

IDF soldier Yosef Fartuk, who was killed in a rocket attack on the Eshkol region on Tuesday, will be laid to rest today at Jerusalem’s Givat Shaul cemetery at 1:30 p.m.

Alian Salem Alanbari, a Bedouin civilian from the the village of Rejwan in the Negev, who was also killed yesterday, was interred last night.

The Iron Dome system has intercepted a rocket that was fired from Gaza at the coastal city of Ashkelon.

Earlier, several rockets fell in open areas in the Shaar Hanegev region. There were no reports of injuries or damage.

The IDF spokesperson, Brig. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, says that despite the fact that “Hamas thought there was a ceasefire” last night, the IDF stepped up attacks against Hamas and Gaza terror factions, striking “over 70″ targets in the Gaza Strip,

He says the option of a ground operation in Gaza has “definitely” not been taken off the table, despite talk that a truce is imminent.

An IAF airstrike overnight targets a bridge that connects the central Gaza Strip to Gaza City.

The army announces that during the night, it struck some 50 buried rocket launchers and weapons-smuggling tunnels, a set of tunnels used by Hamas to smuggle gasoline, and three weapons depots.

In addition, the army says it targeted a senior member of Hamas’s “aerial defense” unit and a terrorist who was identified at the site from which a rocket was fired at Rishon Lezion on Tuesday.

While sticking points remain in details of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, Israeli spokesman Mark Regev told BBC on Tuesday night that Israel was not rushing into a deal.

“I have no doubt that Hamas would be more than happy to have a temporary respite — a time out… so they could rest and rearm, and we would have missiles on Israel next week or next month,” Regev said. “We are not interested in that.”

Red alert sirens sounded in Gan Yavne, Gedera and the Be’er Tuvia Regional Council early Wednesday morning as several rockets fired from Gaza approached.

Four rockets landed in open areas in that region, causing no casualties.

Maan reports that an airstrike that took place about an hour ago has destroyed a Palestinian security compound west of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip.

Much of the airstrikes in the area have targeted weapons smuggling tunnels.

Rishon Lezion, the scene of a deadly rocket attack on Tuesday, has announced that schools will be opened on Wednesday — but only within  a limited framework.

Some grades will not have classes on Wednesday, and some schools, including special education institutions, will be closed.

The arrangements are an attempt to balance the city’s desire to return residents to a normal daily schedule, and the need to be cautious in the face of danger.