On Monday Hamas and Islamic Jihad (PIJ) claimed responsibility for a rare terrorist attack which targeted the heart of Israel's Tel Aviv. That's when a powerful explosive device ripped through a south Tel Aviv neighborhood. A suicide bomber was observed carrying a backpack before it apparently detonated early, killing the culprit and injuring an innocent bystander who was on a motorized scooter.
Times of Israel reports that "The Shin Bet said it was still working to confirm the identity of the bomber, a man in his 50s, although Hebrew media outlets reported that he was believed to be a Palestinian from the Nablus area in the West Bank." The last suicide bombings in Tel Aviv were in the early and mid-2000s.
Israeli police and intelligence have labeled it a terror attack after their initial investigation. Not long after, Hamas and PIJ confirmed that they were behind the joint operation, and promised more suicide attacks to come.
A statement confirmed responsibility for "the implementation of the martyrdom operation that took place yesterday evening Sunday in the city of Tel Aviv." In reference to suicide attacks, the groups said the "martyrdom operations" in occupied lands will "return to the fore as long as the occupation's executions and civilian displacement operations continue and the policy of assassinations continues."
Such individual suicide bombings in Tel Aviv or other densely populated areas of Israel has become more of a rarity over recent years, and were more frequent in the 1990s and early 2000s during the Second Intifada.
It was particularly the period of the early 2000s which saw hundreds of Israelis wounded and killed by a series of suicide attacks.
As for this latest, authorities have speculated that a nearby busy synagogue may have likely been the intended target:
"It may be that the terrorist planned to go to a nearby synagogue or maybe a shopping center. We can’t understand yet why it exploded at that point," he said.
A Tel Aviv resident told Ynet that at the time of the explosion, more than 80 people had been inside the nearby synagogue for evening prayers.
ISRAEL: TERROR AVERTED: An explosion in Tel Aviv appears to have been caused by a suicide bomber in failed major terror attack that detonated too early. The terrorist was the only one killed. His backpack was loaded with nails for maximum damage H’Y. pic.twitter.com/ZBqOewx7PS
— KolHaolam (@KolHaolam) August 18, 2024
On Monday local reports say there has been a noticeable increase in police patrolling the streets and a heavier security presence around Tel Aviv.
Likely any entry points into Israel from the West Bank are also being more closely guarded and monitored, as Israeli society remains fearful of a potential return to that prior era of suicide attacks from the Intifada eras. The last big terror suicide bombing to hit Tel Aviv may have been as much as 18 years ago.
