Media Summary
21 injured in Jerusalem bus bombing
The Times, Telegraph, Financial Times, Guardian, the New Day, the i, Metro and BBC report on yesterday’s bus bombing in Jerusalem. The rush-hour attack injured 21 people. The Telegraph quotes a paramedic on the scene who says he arrived to a burning, bombed out bus and tried to move people away. Several papers recall the waves of bus bombings in the 1990s and during the second Intifada.
The Financial Times, i, Metro and BBC report that the soldier who shot a wounded assailant in Hebron in March has been formally charged with manslaughter. The FT notes that he was also charged with unbecoming conduct and notes that there will be a concert in support of the soldier in Tel Aviv tonight.
The Guardian and BBC note that Israel discovered a tunnel from the Gaza strip into Israel. The tunnels, dug by Hamas to conduct raids inside Israeli territory, were a major cause of Operation Protective Edge, the 2014 conflict between Israel and Gaza. This is the first new tunnel discovered since then.
Israeli papers all lead on the Jerusalem bus bombing, with Maariv declaring “Bus terror returns” after the first bus-bombing since 2012. Israel Hayom talks to the mother of a victim of the attack, who found her daughter burned. Israel Radio reports that one person remains in critical condition, and that there is speculation about whether he might be the bomber.
Israeli papers also prominently report on the discovery of a new tunnel from Gaza into Israel, with Israel Hayom producing a split “terror” front-page covering this and the bus bombing. Haaretz quotes Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who claimed that the tunnel was discovered using new technology. An analysis piece in Yediot Ahronot claims that Hamas should be worried about Israel’s new-found ability to detect its terror tunnels. A similar analysis appears in the Jerusalem Post.
Haaretz reports that Jordan has suspended its plan to install CCTV cameras on the Temple Mount. Officially, the cameras were to be installed to monitor Israeli police and IDF activity on the Mount, but Israel supported their installation while Palestinian groups opposed it. As Palestinian opposition has intensified, Jordan has suspended the plan.
Yediot Ahronot, Maariv, Haaretz and Israel Hayom cover the formal charges against the Hebron solider and name him as Sgt Elor Azaria following the lifting of the court order against revealing his identity. Israel Hayom notes that singer Eyal Golan has withdrawn from a concert tonight in support of Sgt Azaria.
Haaretz reports that Israel’s negotiations with the USA over military aid. Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters on Monday that “significant gaps” still remain between Israel and the USA on the military agreement. Meanwhile, Haaretz and the Times of Israel report on a speech made by Vice President Joe Biden at the J-Street gala in which he expressed the Administration’s ‘overwhelming frustration’ at what he termed the ‘steady and systematic expansion of settlements, the legalisation of outposts, land seizures.’
Israel Hayom and Haaretz report on international opposition from Germany and the USA to Israel’s position on the Golan Heights, following Sunday’s Israeli Cabinet meeting where Mr Netanyahu said that Syria may never be a functioning state again and that Israel would therefore keep control of the Golan.