Bus bombing kicks off day of carnage

A suicide bombing on a bus began a day of bloodshed that left 18 people dead and dozens injured in shootings, bombings and ambushes from northern Israel to Jerusalem and the Mediterranean coast.

The violence punctuated a day filled with demolitions by Israeli troops of nine homes belonging to the families of militants implicated in attacks, as well as the army’s siege of the West Bank city of Nablus, considered by Israel to be the hub of Palestinian suicide bombings.