Bomb Blast on Bus in Tel Aviv

AFRIK UPDATE

News,Mid East

By BBC

                 

Isreal-Gaza - There has been an explosion on a bus in Israel's commercial capital Tel Aviv, police say, amid continuing exchanges between Israel and militants in Gaza.

There are at least 10 injuries in what police called a "terrorist attack".

The incident comes as Israel continued its strikes on Gaza, including a key compound of the Hamas government, and militants fired more rockets at Israel.

International efforts to broker a truce are continuing with talks in the West Bank, Jerusalem and Cairo.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon are in the region to discuss a ceasefire.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's spokesman Ofir Gendelman said on his Twitter account that the explosion was caused by a bomb and that it was "terrorist attack".

Emergency services say five of the wounded in the bus explosion are in a serious or moderate condition.

An Israeli who witnessed the explosion told Army Radio the bus was "completely charred".

The bus was reportedly passing the military headquarters in the city at the time.

Israel's Haaretz newspaper said the injured were being taken to Ichilov hospital and that roadblocks had been set up in the area to search for a suspected bomber.