Suspected Tel Aviv bus bomber faces charges in court

Published December 19th, 2012 - 08:44 GMT
Israeli security and emergency medical forces respond to a bus bombing in central Tel Aviv, November 21, 2012. Ten people were injured in the blast that complicated diplomatic efforts for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. (UPI/Mati Milstein)
Israeli security and emergency medical forces respond to a bus bombing in central Tel Aviv, November 21, 2012. Ten people were injured in the blast that complicated diplomatic efforts for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. (UPI/Mati Milstein)

Charges against a man suspected of perpetrating November's Tel Aviv bus bombing were brought before the central court in Tel Aviv on Wednesday morning, according to the official Israeli Arabic radio station, Arabil.

The bomb exploded on an Israeli bus near the nation's military headquarters in Tel Aviv last month, wounding 27 people. 

The explosion followed a week of fighting between Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers, with many fearing the attack would hinder diplomatic efforts to form a truce. 

Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, reported last month that Israel had arrested several people in connection with the attack, including an Arab Israeli, working for Hamas and Islamic Jihad. 

Sources in Shin Bet, Israel's internal security organization, reportedly told the paper that  most of those arrested were from the West Bank village of Beit Lakiya. A resident of the Arab Israeli town of Taibeh, who originally resided in Beit Lakiya but was granted Israeli citizenship, was also said to have been involved. 

Haaretz reported that to gain entry to Tel Aviv, suspected cell members took a car belonging to the man's Israeli employer which he used to enter the city and plant the bomb.

According to Arabil, on Wednesday morning the public prosecution at the Central Court presented charges of terrorism against the man from Taibeh. 

Details from the on-going investigation are still restricted. 

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