Empty Buses Explode near Tel Aviv in Coordinated Attack; Netanyahu Order ‘Massive’ Counter-Terror Op

Firefighters at the scene of a bus bombing in Bat Yam, south of Tel Aviv, Feb. 20, 2025. Photo by Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90 Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90

The IDF said areas within Judea and Samaria have been closed off.

By JNS and United with Israel Staff

Three buses exploded near Tel Aviv and bombs were found on two others on Thursday night in what is being investigated as a coordinated attack.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday night ordered the military to conduct a “massive” counter-terrorism operation in Judea and Samaria.

Netanyahu also instructed the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) and Israel Police to step up “preventive activities” against possible additional attacks across the country.

Following a situational assessment on Thursday, the IDF said its operations in Judea and Samaria were ongoing, and that areas within the territories have been closed off. IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi instructed forces to assist the Israel Police as necessary.

The military also announced the deployment of three additional battalions to reinforce security in Judea and Samaria, adding that it was “prepared to expand the offensive operations.”

All of the explosions occurred in parked, empty buses across the central city of Bat Yam, located just south of Tel Aviv. There were no injuries, per the Israel Police, which said that Danny Levy, the police commissioner, was on site where one of the explosions took place.

At least one of the bombs bore a note, in Arabic and Hebrew, that stated “revenge from the Tulkarem refugee camp,” a reference to the terrorist hotbed where security forces have been conducting operations, Channel 12 News reported.

Five explosive devices, all with timers set to go off simultaneously, were found in what was intended to be a “strategic terrorist attack,” per Channel 12, which cited security sources.

Israel Katz, the Israeli defense minister, directed the Israel Defense Forces to increase “the intensity of activities to thwart terrorism in the Tulkarm refugee camp and in the refugee camps in Judea and Samaria in general” following what he called “serious terrorist attacks attempted” in the Tel Aviv area on Thursday night.

“We will pursue the terrorists to the bitter end and destroy the terrorist infrastructure in the camps that serve as a frontline for the Iranian axis of evil,” Katz stated.

“Palestinian terrorists were planning a massive attack tomorrow morning,” stated David Friedman, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel. “Bombs have been identified on multiple buses and other public transportation that were to be detonated during the morning rush hour.”

“The casualties could have been overwhelming,” Friedman wrote. “Thank God this attack was stopped, and may all these terrorists be wiped from the earth before they can kill again.”

The Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) was reportedly called to the scenes, and all bus drivers in the Tel Aviv metropolitan area have been instructed to search their vehicles for possible explosive devices.

Miri Regev, the Israeli transportation minister, instructed the National Public Transport Authority to “stop and inspect all buses, heavy trains and light rails and act in accordance with the instructions of the Shin Bet and the police.”

Israeli security forces at the scene of a possible bus bombing in Bat Yam, central Israel, Feb. 20, 2025. Photo by Flash90.

“The incident began at two locations just minutes apart. Two bombs were detonated on two buses that were empty,” Zvika Brot, the mayor of Bat Yam, told local media. He added that “there are suspicions of an additional bomb.”

Shortly after Brot issued his statement, Israeli media outlets aired video footage of what was said to be a third bus explosion in the Bat Yam area.

The devices were “likely meant to detonate during rush hour for a mass casualty attack,” wrote Mark Dubowitz, CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

“These multiple bus bombs in Israel are suspected of being planted and set to detonate tomorrow morning as commuters would be headed to work,” wrote Jason Brodsky, policy director at United Against Nuclear Iran. “Worth noting the head of Palestinian Islamic Jihad has been visiting Iran this week.”

Earlier this month, Israeli authorities revealed that security forces prevented a bus bombing in Jerusalem and arrested five Palestinian terrorists, who they said planned to execute the attack remotely.

The suspected terrorists, some of whom are said to be affiliated with Hamas and others with Fatah, acted as a cell to detonate the explosives, which they planned to smuggle into Jerusalem from Samaria, the Shin Bet said.