Israeli police foil bomb plot

Police in northern Israel today safely detonated a bomb they believe was planted by Palestinian militants in a petrol station.

The device would have caused extensive damage if it had gone off as planned, the deputy commander of police in Afula said.

Menachem Hever said the bomb was placed in a woman’s bag close to one of the petrol pumps.

“Two soldiers came to fill up their car. they saw the bag, opened the bag and discovered a pipe bomb, a bomb with wires and a detonator,” he said.

“It was a decent sized bomb of several kilograms,” he added. It was blown up safely in a field near the petrol station.

Hever said it appeared militants from Jenin, who have carried out several bombings in Afula since the start of a Palestinian uprising two years ago, planted the bomb.

He said it was a “miracle” the bomb had not blown up on its own and added that police were searching the town to make sure no other explosives had been planted.

Two bombs were recently found attached to tanker trucks, including one which entered Israel’s largest fuel depot.

They failed to cause damage because the trucks were carrying diesel fuel which is not as explosive as regular petrol.

Israel’s largest fuel depot, Pi Glilot, has above ground tanks, and officials said an explosion at the depot, located in central Israel not far from Tel Aviv, could cause thousands of casualties.