Jerusalem Bus Explosion 'Definitely A Bomb'
An explosion on a bus in Jerusalem that left 21 people injured was "definitely a bomb", an Israeli official has said.
Israeli media reported a man who was seriously injured and not carrying identification papers was under investigation on suspicion he was responsible for the blast, which hit one bus and then set another on fire.
A spokeswoman for Nir Barkat, the Israeli mayor in Jerusalem, said the explosion in Derech Hebron, an area in the southwest of the city close to the boundary with the Israeli-occupied West Bank, was a bombing.
"It was small, but it was definitely a bomb," Brachie Sprung told the Reuters news agency.
Jerusalem police commissioner Yoram Halevy said there was "no doubt" it was a terror attack.
He added: "We are investigating where the explosive device came from, who planted it, how it got on the bus."
Police initially said they were looking at the possibility a technical malfunction on the bus caused the blast, but they later confirmed an explosive device was detonated at the back of the vehicle.
Israel's foreign press spokesman, Micky Rosenfeld, told Sky News there were two "key people" on board when the explosion happened, and they had suffered serious injuries.
Superintendent Rosenfeld said: "Our police officers, obviously when we'll be able to, will question those people and understand where they are from.
"We haven't got their identities yet and therefore it's tremendously significant to understand what took place just literally moments before the explosion."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said "we'll find whoever prepared this explosive device."
Attacks on Israeli buses by suicide bombers were a hallmark of the Palestinian uprising from 2000-2005, but have been rare since.
Television footage showed smoke billowing from the two burnt-out buses in the aftermath of the blast.
Most of the injuries were said to be burn wounds and smoke inhalation.
Bus driver Moshe Levy told reporters he checked his bus for bombs twice before he started his journey.
He said he was in traffic when "suddenly there was an explosion in the back".
Mr Levy said: "I immediately understood it was a terror attack. I opened the doors of the bus so people could escape and told them to get out."
The incident comes amid a number of Palestinian attacks on Israelis, most of them stabbings.
A total of 28 Israelis and two Americans have been killed in the seven-month wave of violence.
At least 189 Palestinians have been killed in that period.
Israel says most of the dead were attackers, with the rest killed in clashes with security forces.
