“Open the gates that the righteous nation may enter, the nation that keeps faith. You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.” (Isaiah 26:3)
Last week, 21 people were wounded when a bus bombing caused the vehicle to catch fire.
Two of the 21 injured were seriously wounded, seven moderately, and 12 lightly. Fifteen-year-old Eden Dadon was severely burned and among three taken to the intensive care unit at Hadassah.
Dadon’s mother, Racheli, was paying the bus driver while her daughter went to the back of the bus when the explosion occurred. Racheli said, “Everything was dark and smoky. I looked for my daughter and she was all burned. … Her face was all black; you couldn’t see her.”
“I’ve always watched these things happen from the outside, but when it happens to you… I can’t believe that I’m here and that my daughter isn’t. She’ll be 16 in a month, and now she’s sedated and on a ventilator. I’m praying that she’ll get out of this ok,” Racheli added, asking the public to pray as well.
On Tuesday, spokesperson Hadar Elboim for Hadassah Hospital said that the three victims in intensive care were “in moderate-to-serious condition, sedated and on assisted ventilation,” while a fourth victim, in moderate condition, had been moved to Hadassah’s plastic surgery unit. (Yeshiva World)
A fatally wounded man might have been the bomber himself — named by Hamas as Abdel Hamid Abu Srour, a 19-year-old Palestinian Arab from the al-Ayda camp outside of Bethlehem.
Israel’s Shin Bet security service swept up some suspects involved in the planning and bombing of the Egged Bus No. 12 in Jerusalem’s Talpiot area, including the father of the 19-year-old, whom Hamas claimed to be responsible.
Palestinians rejoiced at the destruction.
Footage from Bethlehem after the attack shows a crowd marching and chanting a Hamas song about “a bus roof flying off.” The video shows women, including Abu Srour’s mother, handing out sweets to the revelers, reports Arabic-speaker Khaled Abu Toameh. (Video: Marching Arabs in Bethlehem)
In Gaza, some were filmed passing out candy to commuters. Employees of the Hamas group’s Aqsa TV channel smile over a plate of sweets in celebration of the attack — as shown in a photograph tweeted by Abu Toameh.
Abu Srour’s mother apparently knew of his intentions to commit a capital crime, telling the media that he had asked her to publish a certain photo of him if he were to die as a “martyr.”
After Abu Srour had succumbed to his wounds on April 20, Hamas in Bethlehem claimed he was the attacker and one of their own.
Shaare Zedek Medical Center spokesperson Shoham Ruvio said multiple surgeries had been provided for a man who lost both legs in the blast before he died April 20 at 7 p.m. While Ruvio claimed the medical center did not know anything about the man’s identity, he is thought to be have been Abu Srour.
