Terrorist blows up bus in central Tel Aviv; 16 injured
Terrorist blows up bus in central Tel Av… JPost – National News.
Photo: Nir Elias/Reuters
Tel Aviv police had added additional officers in the city before this attack due to heightened state of alert in place because of the IDF operation in Gaza and rocket attacks, Tel Aviv police chief Yoel Ohayon said at the scene.
Police called on the public to stay alert, the Tel Aviv chief said.
While it appeared the bomb was left on the bus and not the result of a suicide bombing, Ohayon said that at this point in time “it is very difficult to say exactly what happened.”
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri praised the bombing, but stopped short of claiming responsibility.
“Hamas blesses the attack in Tel Aviv and sees it as a natural response to the Israeli massacres… in Gaza,” he 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,” Abu Zuhri said.
The attack comes in the eighth day of IDF Operation Pillar of Defense in the Gaza Strip, which has seen hundreds of rockets fired into Israel, including four in the Tel Aviv area.
Reuters contributed to this report.
WarSclerotic 
November 21, 2012 at 1:57 PM
The terror act today in Tel Aviv is a game changer. From the moment in which their long range missiles were destroyed and the Iron Dome is working well those terrorists have gone back in time, in the middle 90ties, when buses exploded in the heart of the country. They are back to the old methods only this time they forgot something : israeli divisions are concentrated for a devastating blow in Gaza. A ground operation has became now more actual than ever, because the tandem Bibi & Barak will not sign any agreement under the cloak of terror Hamas is throwing now.
November 21, 2012 at 3:17 PM
Justification provided.
Luis, you were correct yesterday when you said Bibi would be mad to invade. That was yesterday, right here right now, he’d be mad not to.
Big business wants this; Donald Rumpsfeld works for Halliburton and Tony Blair earns millions from a South Korean oil company that operates Seoul(ly) in Iraq. Who says crime doesn’t pay?
November 21, 2012 at 3:57 PM
Greetings, Steve Ward. Its been an year or some since I didn’t read your interesting lines here.
Now, regarding the actual situation – which is very fluid, to say the least – a lonely wrong missile from Gaza to Israel can change the whole picture and trigger a full ground invasion into the terror land. Otherwise, we can say that Netanyahu still has an elastic position and in certain conditions will agree to a cease fire which, to tell you the truth, we cannot see in the actual situation.
November 21, 2012 at 4:08 PM
The old blame game again. Halliburton of all things. Halliburton has a huge presence here in south Louisiana. I have friends and clients who work for this outstanding company. The oil industry and others depend on them to perform tasks that require extensive resources in near impossible places to operate. They pay their employees well and provide them with all the benefits. I was not aware Donald Rumsfeld was employed by Haliburton. If so, I’m sure Haliburton has everything to gain, and rightfully so since, last time I looked, we operate in a capitalistic society. As for Tony Blair, all I know about him is he speaks near-perfect French and that’s good enough for me, n’est-ce pas?
November 21, 2012 at 4:23 PM
hallliburton now that is the blind led by idiots,they cant even cap a well head without it expoldeing
November 21, 2012 at 5:37 PM
Sorry Justice, I beg to differ. But for now, we’ve got bigger causes to fight.
November 21, 2012 at 6:09 PM
steve its in good humor with no offense meant just a bit of stress relief
November 21, 2012 at 7:00 PM
We could all use a little humor about now Justice. Thanks for the encouragement.
November 21, 2012 at 6:15 PM
Gidi Kleiman BBC News Jerusalem tweets: Ch 10: preliminary, Israel expected to declare tonight ceasefire with out reaching an agreement with Hamas
November 21, 2012 at 6:17 PM
Louisiana’ Steve humor its an all time great.
November 21, 2012 at 6:27 PM
Since I don’t know enough and since you guys seem to be all well-informed I’d like your opinion.
Wouldn’t it be better, if the IDF escalates now, starts a ground operation and cleans up Gaza so that this threat is eliminated when the IDF finally has to strike Iran?
November 21, 2012 at 6:33 PM
IMO yes. Some argue hamas has suffered enough damage and that its time to stop. I argue that if Israel stops then Iran and others will simply re-arm them and we are back to the same story 2 years down the line. A ground offensive will be bloody, but to allow hamas to stay in power in gaza is simply foolish. I said many times before an iran operation takes place hamas will be taken out and hezbollah badly damaged.
November 21, 2012 at 6:44 PM
Interesting. I agree, for the reasons you stated.
Otherwise Israel would have to start all over again in a few years.
I even think that a permanent military presence of the IDF in Gaza would be needed after a ground operation, to prevent Hamas from regrouping and rearming.
But I don’t know the details. (How long would a ground invasion take, how many casualties, how many would have to stay there, the costs, can Israel afford to have this kind of operations etc.).
That is why I asked.
November 21, 2012 at 7:45 PM
I have to say that,if i was running this show,,i would play the wild card,ATTACK IRAN,while leaving gaza under ariel bombardment and increase the ground artillery barrage 100 fold.i would go for a emp srike followed by a nucler strike on the 4 underground facility’s,then put ground troops into lebanon and gaza simultaneously,and change the rules of engagement to seek and destroy no prisoners,while sending the refugees to egypt and syria therefore causing chaos,and fear and panic,it would take the Americans help but would be such a shock it may well work
November 21, 2012 at 7:49 PM
Yes well thankfully your not in charge…
November 21, 2012 at 7:52 PM
You know yourself it would work,were gaming it now,potability of succeeding is 76%
November 21, 2012 at 6:38 PM
”More detail on Channel 10’s report on a unilateral Israel ceasefire has come in. Their defence correspondent Alon Ben David reports that following a long discussion in Netanyahu’s nine-member kitchen cabinet, they decided that an agreement on Israel’s terms could not be achieved and Israel would unilaterally declare a ceasefire. Egypt would then be left to pressure Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other militant organizations in the Gaza Strip to hold their fire as well. The channel’s senior diplomatic correspondent, Emanuel Rosen, said the announcement will also include a list of concessions to Gaza including lifting restrictions for export.”
November 21, 2012 at 7:08 PM
Let’s see…so according to Channel 10 Israel must:
1. Unilaterally stop shooting back.
2. Unilaterally absorb rocket fire from Hamas.
3. Unilaterally allow buses full of people to suddenly explode.
4. Unilaterally drop the blockade of Gaza.
5. Unilaterally wait for Egypt to talk Hamas into a ceasefire.
6. Unilaterally allow Israelis to play rocket roulette and lose.
Gee…sounds like a good deal to me. How could Israel possible resist?
November 21, 2012 at 7:24 PM
Israel should make them an offer, they cannot refuse.
Send them immediately to their 72 virgins.
November 21, 2012 at 7:31 PM
The Egyptian Foreign Minister announces at a press conference with US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton that the ceasefire will begin at 1900 GMT.
November 21, 2012 at 7:31 PM
Ok, you all, have a good day.
November 21, 2012 at 7:32 PM
you too 🙂
November 21, 2012 at 8:08 PM
Many are saying this ceasefire is a disaster for Israel. Netanyahu has backed down in the face of terror and world opinion, and is probably too busy caring about his re-election. I can however see this as political suicide. Hamas could have been finished off, too many people have died, in both Israel and Gaza, for this to simply just end now, why? Because we will be back here again in less than 2 years time, with a fully re-armed hamas, with iranian made rockets and will result in more people dying, on both sides again. Calling up over 75,000 reserves, away from their jobs, and keeping them idle on the Gaza border destroys morale and makes it look like backing down in that face of hamas. They will claim this as a victory and they will become stronger now. Iran will ramp up military and financial support. Now they want to open the border with gaza, what for? To let suicide bombers in? Jeez
November 21, 2012 at 8:11 PM
Of course thats if the ceasefire holds, perhaps Netanyahu knows it wont and will commence ‘stage 2’.
November 21, 2012 at 8:14 PM
True to the last word
November 21, 2012 at 8:29 PM
It will last until Egypt gets its 2 billion dollars and the leaders of Hamas have their Swiss bank accounts filled with American tax money. Then the rockets will start once more.
November 22, 2012 at 2:06 AM
Exactly.
November 21, 2012 at 8:35 PM
Reports of a mortor explosion on the Israel-Lebanon border, no doubt Hezbollah can smell Netanyahu’s weakness
November 21, 2012 at 8:48 PM
Channel 2:
70% of Israelis do not think Israel should accept a ceasefire
Only 12% believe a ceasefire will hold for a short period
November 21, 2012 at 8:52 PM
What i said before is the best but most risky way to move forward,cut the head and the tail off and burn the middle,it will come to that anyway,i predict in the next week
November 21, 2012 at 8:53 PM
But no use of nukes 😉
November 21, 2012 at 9:17 PM
the only way to take out fordo is a nuclear strike
November 21, 2012 at 8:57 PM
Look at it this way: IDF has taken out Hamas’ long range rockets, so that front is manageable when they go and take out Natanz.
November 21, 2012 at 9:05 PM
23 minutes ago Lebanese security official to AFP: A rocket was fired from south Lebanon towards Israel.
48 minutes ago Yediot Ahronot: A blast was heard in the Metula region near the border with Lebanon. The Israeli army is looking into the possibility that it emanated from a Katyusha rocket.
November 21, 2012 at 9:22 PM
Speakers in Mosques in Gazza announcing a Victory and celebratory gunfire going off. Whistling and cheering
November 21, 2012 at 9:31 PM
no worry s its going to be short lived
November 21, 2012 at 10:14 PM
I hope we all here don’t forget what this operation was all about.
The real target here was to knock out Hamas from the iranian equation.
Now, in case of an israeli operation in Iran, Hamas will think twice before they are scratching the israeli croc; their long range missiles had disappeared, too.
Hezbollah will also think twice before throwing themselves into the abyss for the sake of their master, Iran. The Gaza Lesson is just been learnt by all the islamists in the region.
So, you see, Israel is looking around and Iran is now without proxies to do its bound. All this operation is a master stroke of IDF.
Right now, Iran lies down in the open, ready to be grabbed.
November 21, 2012 at 10:26 PM
Posted somewhere else –
Operation Pillar of Cloud, which now seems to be winding down, is based on a biblical allusion from Exodus 13:21, which reports that during the day God led the Israelites in the Sinai wilderness as a pillar of cloud, and at night as a pillar of fire. The 2 are inseparable.
Operation Pillar of Fire is what I name the real purpose of this entire exercise, and it began early morning in Jerusalem, Nov. 7, just as back on the East Coast of the United States on the night of Nov. 6, the major networks were calling Ohio for Barack Obama and Karl Rove experienced uncontrollable dizziness.
The shock and pain was palpable in the Boston Romney HQ that night, but 6000 miles away there was another equally stunned group of election watchers – the fearsome threesome of Benjamin Netanyahu, Ehud Barak, and Avigdor Lieberman. Their best laid plans for the next 12 months to be in league – finally, thankfully – with a sympathetic White House lay crumpled on the floor.
There would now be no time to prepare an attack on Iran in tandem with a President Romney and Dan Senor. Instead, a countdown clock was triggered: a month or two, maybe 3 at most, before Hilary Clinton leaves State and someone else – maybe the perennially hostile Susan Rice – joins the Obama inner foreign policy circle. Ironically, an Obama reelection actually moved up the deadline for an Israeli go-it-alone strike on Iran.
There are many difficult problems associated with a strike on Iran. One of the first problems is achieving operational surprise, at least for the first sorties of the air campaign. How does Israel, an open society saturated with journalists and social media, call up its Air Force reserves without tipping its hand to Iran?
There is only one way I can imagine Israel can bring its IAF to full operational capacity without setting off a dozen warning flares: induce a situation in Gaza that would plausibly necessitate a massive call up of a sizable reserve force. The timeline beginning with Nov. 8’s Israel-Gaza border skirmishes, instigated by Israel, culminating in Ahmed al-Ja’abari’s targeted killing, provided the contrived event. The entire world has suddenly forgotten Israel’s supposedly existential nuclear nightmare and has become obsessively preoccupied with Gaza and the Iron Dome.
After you create the “crisis,” you then resolve it diplomatically well before throwing your forces into a universally unwanted ground war. Then demobilize your reservists – EXCEPT your Air Force reserves. Take whatever time you need, within reason. (I assume that at least a certain number of these IAF reservists’ absence from society & the workforce would eventually be noticed, so time isn’t unlimited.)
Thus, I have convinced myself, and seek to convince you, that Pillar of Cloud is merely a feint, a ruse, and a necessary prelude to a much more dangerous and eventful and insane Pillar of Fire.
November 21, 2012 at 10:31 PM
This isn’t mine, I read it on a forum elsewhere
November 21, 2012 at 10:42 PM
i thought that from the start hence the hence the prognosis earlier,hence the name pillar of cloud
November 21, 2012 at 10:44 PM
Look close at one of my recent comments, I wrote there Pillar of Fire.
November 21, 2012 at 10:56 PM
yes i got that,i thought it was message
November 21, 2012 at 10:47 PM
Hamas’s Khaled Mashaal says the “package deal” bars the IDF from the Gaza border area and frees up trade access to Gaza, reports Channel 2s Ehud Yaari — “a very different picture from the one painted by Israel of the deal,” he says.
Why would Israel cut such a bullshit deal? Maybe we need to think about it. Something may be coming in the next hours?
November 22, 2012 at 1:26 AM
CNN just reported that the Pentagon is in heavy meetings to insure the safety of Americans in the region as this whole region escalates. They know something is up. 3 amphibious carriers and their support vessels off the coast of Israel as we speak, US/NATO planning on massive build up.
November 22, 2012 at 1:49 AM
now anyone who doesn’t grasp what Defense today is saying should very carefully read this article http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-us-nato-war-on-syria-western-naval-forces-confront-russia-off-the-syrian-coastline/32079
November 22, 2012 at 2:04 AM
Its not a game of chess, this is a game of global Risk, Risk being the word.
November 22, 2012 at 4:19 AM
I don’t think much will happen other than the slow painful slide of Syria into failed state status. A sunni/shia proxy war between the gulf states and Iran. Neither will give up until resources are exhausted. A war of attrition.
Either way, Israel will still be in a bad neighborhood that looks as dark as ever for the foreseeable future.
November 27, 2012 at 11:43 AM
Bernhard Rosenberg•in a few seconds −
Israel lost the P.R. war and look at NETANIYAHU’S FACIAL EXPRESSION. HAMAS CAME OUT AHEAD AND NOW HAS GAINED RESPECT IN THE ARAB WORLD. AND IN THE CAPITALS OF MANY COUNTIRES. Hamas is David and Israel is Goliath. This is horrrible. I smell a rat, her name is Clinton. I am one Rabbi with the guts to speak out. G-d help ISRAEL REAIN ITS INTEGRITY . I WOULD RATHER HAVE THE WORLD FEAR US THAN LOVE US. RABBI DR. BERNHARD ROSENBERG