JERUSALEM: An Israeli wounded in rare bombings to hit Jerusalem earlier this week died Saturday, the hospital treating him announced, the latest casualty as violence surges in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek hospital announced the death of Tadesa Teshuma “who was fatally wounded in an attack at the entrance to Jerusalem.”
A 15-year-old Israeli-Canadian was also killed in Wednesday’s twin blasts, which hit bus stops frequented by ultra-Orthodox Jews at the city’s western exit.
Thirteen others were wounded, medics said, in the first bombings to hit the contested city since 2016 according to Israel’s Shin Bet domestic security agency.
A security source told AFP the explosives were detonated remotely and no group has claimed the attacks, which were celebrated by Palestinian militant group Hamas.
The bombings come amid a spike in violence, which has claimed the lives of six Israelis and 14 Palestinians this month across Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank.
Israeli security forces remain on high alert and on Saturday police briefly closed a main road in Jerusalem, not far from the site of the bombings, due to a suspicious package. The incident turned out to be a false alarm, police said.
During the second intifada, or uprising, in the early 2000s, Palestinian militants repeatedly planted bombs at urban bus stops, including in Jerusalem.
Much of the recent violence has centered on the West Bank, where more than 125 Palestinians have been killed this year according to an AFP tally.
At least 26 Israelis have also been killed in attacks across Israel and the Palestinian territories.
The dead have included Israeli troops, Palestinian militants and civilians on both sides including multiple children.
Earlier this year, 49 Gazans were killed in a three-day conflict between Israel and Palestinian militants in the coastal enclave.
Israeli wounded in Jerusalem bus stop bombings dies
https://arab.news/4ebf2
Israeli wounded in Jerusalem bus stop bombings dies
- A 15-year-old Israeli-Canadian was also killed in Wednesday's twin blasts
- Thirteen others were wounded, medics said, in the first bombings to hit the contested city since 2016
Voter registration closes for West Bank municipal elections: Palestinian official
- Officials argue that strengthening local government, improving service delivery and renewing council mandates can help rebuild public trust at a time when the PA faces widespread criticism over corruption, stagnation and declining legitimacy
- Hamas boycotted the previous municipal elections held in 2021-2022 after the PA postponed long-overdue parliamentary and presidential polls, deepening an internal Palestinian political split
RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories: Voter registration closed across the West Bank on Sunday ahead of municipal elections on April 25, when Palestinians will cast ballots to elect 420 local councils, a rare democratic exercise in the Israeli-occupied territory.
Voting will also take place in central Gaza for the Deir Al-Balah council, a spokesman for the Ramallah-based Central Election Commission told AFP.
“The elections in both the West Bank and in (Deir el-Balah) Gaza will be organized on April 25,” Farid Tumallah said.
“Registration of candidates will open on February 23 for a period of one week,” he added.
President Mahmud Abbas’s Fatah movement is widely expected to dominate candidate lists, with the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority exercising tight political control.
It remains unclear whether Hamas, the Islamist group that governs parts of the Gaza Strip not occupied by Israeli forces, will participate.
Hamas boycotted the previous municipal elections held in 2021-2022 after the PA postponed long-overdue parliamentary and presidential polls, deepening an internal Palestinian political split.
Fatah and Hamas relations broke down in 2007, when Hamas seized control of Gaza following a brief but bloody clashes, leaving the Palestinian territories divided between the two factions.
The Islamist group had won the parliamentary elections the previous year, the last time they were held.
“Organizing elections in Gaza is logistically challenging. We are trying to develop special procedures for voting and elections in Deir Al-Balah,” Tumallah said, without elaborating.
“Holding elections in the remaining municipalities of the Gaza Strip is not currently feasible due to compelling security and logistical circumstances,” the commission said in a statement.
This year’s municipal elections are being closely watched as part of what Abbas has described as a reform and renewal process within the PA, pledged amid growing international pressure for greater accountability, improved governance and political inclusion.
Western and regional donors have increasingly tied financial and diplomatic support to visible reforms, particularly at the local governance level, as national elections remain frozen.
With no presidential or legislative elections held since 2006, municipal councils have become one of the few functioning democratic institutions under PA administration.
Officials argue that strengthening local government, improving service delivery and renewing council mandates can help rebuild public trust at a time when the PA faces widespread criticism over corruption, stagnation and declining legitimacy.
The Fatah-dominated PA controls parts of the West Bank, while Gaza has been devastated by nearly two years of war following Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel.
The war has further complicated Palestinian political reconciliation and electoral planning.
Municipal councils are responsible for basic services such as water, sanitation and local infrastructure and don’t enact legislation.
While many candidate lists are aligned with political factions, independent lists are also permitted to run.
