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Israeli police said that bombs on three buses exploded in the central city of Bat Yam on Thursday evening, with a local official saying there were no injuries.Defence Minister Israel Katz accused “Palestinian terrorist organisations” of carrying out the blasts, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to hold a security meeting.”Preliminary report – Suspected terror attack. Multiple reports have been received of explosions involving several buses at different locations in Bat Yam,” the police said in a statement. Three devices exploded on buses while two were being defused, a police spokesman told AFP.A large number of police were deployed to search for suspects, the police statement said.”Police bomb disposal units are scanning for additional suspicious objects. We urge the public to avoid the areas and remain alert for any suspicious items,” it added.Tzvika Brot, the mayor of Bat Yam, said in a video statement that there were “no injured in these incidents”.Television footage aired by some Israeli networks showed a completely burnt-out bus and another that was on fire.Israeli media said that bus drivers countrywide had been asked to stop and inspect their vehicles for additional explosive devices.- ‘Very serious’ -A police commander from central Israel, Haim Sargarof said in a televised breifing that the devices used to set off the blasts were similar to those found in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.Following the blasts, Netanyahu was set to hold a security meeting, his office said.”Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been receiving ongoing updates from his military secretary on the IED (improvised-explosive-device) incidents in the Dan (central) area and will soon hold a security assessment,” the office said in a statement.An official in the prime minister’s office said Netanyahu “views the placing of explosives on buses as a very serious incident and will order decisive action against terror elements in the West Bank”.In a separate statement, Katz said he had ordered the military to step up its offensives across the occupied territory, particularly in refugee camps.”In light of the serious attempted attacks in the Gush Dan (central) area by Palestinian terrorist organisations against the civilian population in Israel, I have instructed the IDF (military) to intensify operations to thwart terrorism in the Tulkarem refugee camp and in all the refugee camps in Judea and Samaria,” Katz said in a statement, using the biblical term for the West Bank.The military has been carrying out near-daily raids in several West Bank cities and camps for several weeks now targeting Palestinian militants.Violence in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, has escalated since the October 2023 outbreak of war in the Gaza Strip.At least 897 Palestinians including militants have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers in the West Bank since the Gaza war began, according to an AFP tally based on figures provided by the Palestinian health ministry in Ramallah.At least 32 Israelis, including some soldiers, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or confrontations during Israeli operations in the West Bank over the same period, according to official Israeli figures.

Global stock markets mostly fell on Thursday and gold hit a record high as traders fretted over the impact of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and a pivot in Washington’s policy on Ukraine.Wall Street indices fell after retail behemoth Walmart issued a lackluster forecast. Shares of Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase fell three percent …

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Thousands of mourning Israelis observed a moment of silence Thursday in honour of four dead hostages returned by Hamas, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denouncing the group as “monsters” for staging a public handover of their bodies in Gaza.Hamas said the remains included those of Shiri Bibas and her two young sons, who for many Israelis had come to symbolise the hostages’ ordeal since their abduction on October 7, 2023.It was the first handover of bodies under the fragile ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, prompting scenes that were in sharp contrast to the ones of collective relief that accompanied past releases of living hostages.A crowd gathered in the Tel Aviv plaza dubbed “Hostages Square” Thursday night for a rally in solidarity with the families of the dead hostages.Attendees bowed their heads and choked back tears as they observed a minute of silence in memory of the deceased.At around the same time, police in central Israel reported a “suspected terror attack”, saying three bombs had exploded on or around buses and more were being defused, though no injuries were immediately reported.Earlier in the day, Palestinian militants staged a ceremony to return the bodies of Shiri, Kfir and Ariel Bibas, as well as a fourth hostage, Oded Lifshitz, at a former cemetery in the southern Gazan city of Khan Yunis.Ahead of the handover, Hamas and members of other armed Palestinian groups displayed four black coffins on a stage.  Each casket bore a small photo of the deceased, while mock-up missiles nearby carried the message: “They were killed by USA bombs,” a reference to Israel’s top military supplier.Hamas said an Israeli air strike killed the Bibas family early in the war, but Israel has never confirmed the claim. “We are all enraged at the monsters of Hamas,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later said in a video message, vowing again to destroy the group. The United Nations also slammed what it called the “abhorrent and cruel” staging of the event.The International Committee of the Red Cross, which has facilitated the hostage and prisoner releases so far, called for handovers of bodies “to be done privately out of utmost respect for the deceased and those left grieving”.- Bus blasts -Israeli police said Thursday evening three bombs had detonated and two were being disabled at separate locations after blasts rocked the central city of Bat Yam.”These are identical explosive devices with a timer,” a police spokesman told AFP.Television footage aired by some Israeli networks showed burnt and burning buses, while some outlets reported bus drivers countrywide had been asked to stop and inspect their vehicles for other devices.Large numbers of police had been deployed to search for suspects, the police statement said.Defence Minister Israel Katz said that following the “serious attempted attacks”, he had “instructed the IDF (military) to intensify operations to thwart terrorism in the Tulkarem refugee camp and in all the refugee camps in Judea and Samaria”, using the biblical term for the occupied West Bank.- The youngest hostage -Earlier in the day, flag-waving Israelis had lined the route along which a convoy carrying the hostages’ bodies travelled from southern Israel to Tel Aviv.Tania Coen Uzzielli, 59, who had come to Hostages Square early, said it was “one of the hardest days, I think, since October 7”.The National Institute of Forensic Medicine, where the bodies were taken, confirmed that Lifshitz — 83 at the time of his capture and a veteran journalist and peace activist — was among those handed over. It did not confirm the identities of the other three, however, saying on Thursday evening that it “continues the identification process”.During their October 7, 2023 attack that triggered the Gaza war, Hamas filmed and later broadcast footage showing the Bibas family’s abduction from their home near the Gaza border.Ariel was then aged four, while Kfir was the youngest hostage at just nine months old. Yarden Bibas, the boys’ father and Shiri’s husband, was abducted separately and released in a previous hostage-prisoner swap on February 1.Hamas said in a statement that it and its armed wing had done “everything in their power to protect the prisoners (hostages) and preserve their lives”.Tahani Fayad, 40, was among the hundreds of people gathered to witness the handover ceremony in Gaza, which she called “proof that the occupation will not defeat us”.- Next phase -The bodies’ repatriation is part of the six-week initial phase of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which took effect on January 19.Under the first phase, militants have so far freed 19 living Israeli hostages in exchange for more than 1,100 Palestinian prisoners.Of the remaining 14 Gaza hostages eligible for release under phase one, Israel says eight are dead.Israel and Hamas announced a deal earlier this week for the return of the eight hostages’ remains in two groups this week and next, as well as the release of the six living Israeli captives on Saturday.Palestinian prisoners are also set to be freed in Saturday’s swap, but were not part of Thursday’s handover.Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has said talks will begin this week on the truce’s second phase, aiming to lay out a more permanent end to the war.A Hamas spokesman on Thursday accused Netanyahu of “procrastinating regarding the second phase”, saying the group was “ready to engage”.Senior Hamas official Taher al-Nunu told AFP on Wednesday that Hamas was ready to free all remaining hostages held in Gaza in a single swap during phase two.Hamas and its allies took 251 people hostage during the October 7 attack. Prior to Thursday’s handover, there were 70 hostages still in Gaza, including 35 the Israeli military says are dead.That attack resulted in the deaths of 1,211 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 48,319 people in Gaza, the majority of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory that the United Nations considers reliable.

Thousands of grieving Israelis gathered in the Tel Aviv plaza dubbed Hostages Square on Thursday, standing or sitting in silent mourning, after Hamas handed over the bodies of four hostages. The Palestinian militants had delivered the black coffins they said contained the bodies of Shiri Bibas and her two young boys, Kfir and Ariel — who became symbols of the ordeal that has gripped Israel since the Gaza war began with the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023.It was the first handover of bodies by Hamas under a fragile ceasefire that has seen living hostages exchanged for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.For this macabre first, actors, singers and hostage relatives had gathered on the square that became a symbol of the Israeli movement to bring the hostages back home.”In two days, we’ll receive six live hostages, and then four more bodies, it will be the end of the first phase but we’d like them all to come back”, actor Lior Ashkenazy said on stage shortly after thousands of attendees observed a minute of silence for the four deceased hostages returned on Thursday.”It’s a national mourning, we feel that they (the Bibas mother and sons) are part of our family, we had hope until the last moment,” Gersende Grynszpan, 49, told AFP in Hostages Square.”Today is an extension of October 7,” she added.Chen Kugel, Director of the National Institute of Forensic Medicine, confirmed in a statemet in the early evening that the body of veteran peace activist Oded Lifshitz, 83 at the time of his abduction, was among those returned.He said that work to identify the three other bodies was still continuing.”We received with deep sorrow the official and bitter news confirming the identification of our beloved Oded’s body,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement.Earlier in the day, hundreds of tearful Israelis clutching flags had lined the route of the convoy bringing the bodies of the hostages to the forensic institute in Tel Aviv for identification.A screen in Hostages Square showed images of those still held in the Palestinian territory against a backdrop of sombre music.”This is one of the hardest days, I think, since October 7,” said museum manager Tania Coen Uzzielli, 59.”I think the feeling of personal guilt is something each of us carries — that maybe we could have done more, that maybe we didn’t do enough to prevent this tragedy.”Orange balloons symbolised the red hair of the two Bibas children, who were aged four and nine months at the time of their capture.The family became national symbols of the despair that has gripped the nation since the Hamas attack and hostage takings.- ‘Ask for forgiveness’ -Footage of the Bibas family’s abduction, filmed and broadcast by Hamas during its attack, showed them being seized from their home near the Gaza border.Yarden Bibas, the boys’ father and Shiri Bibas’s husband, was abducted separately and released in a hostage-prisoner exchange on February 1.While their deaths have largely been accepted abroad as fact since Hamas said an Israeli air strike killed them early in the war, Israel had never confirmed their loss.In a video statement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was “enraged by the monsters of Hamas” and vowed to “eliminate” the Palestinian militants after they paraded the coffins in Gaza.The Red Cross-facilitated handover took place at a former cemetery in the south Gaza city of Khan Yunis, where four caskets were shown on a stage next to armed militants.Hundreds of Gazans had gathered to witness the ceremony. Large numbers of armed men in military fatigues and Hamas headbands stood near the stage for the ceremony, which was carefully choreographed like previous handovers of live hostages.Each coffin bore a small photograph of the deceased.Israeli President Isaac Herzog said: “The hearts of an entire nation lie in tatters.”On behalf of the State of Israel, I bow my head and ask for forgiveness. Forgiveness for not protecting you on that terrible day. Forgiveness for not bringing you home safely.”Under the first phase of the ceasefire which took effect on January 19, militants have so far freed 19 living Israeli hostages in exchange for more than 1,100 Palestinian prisoners.Hamas and its allies took 251 people hostage during their attack. Prior to Thursday’s handover, there were 70 hostages in Gaza, including 35 the Israeli military says are dead.Yael Adar, whose son was killed on October 7 in kibbutz Nir Oz, told the crowd in Tel Aviv he just wished for his son’s body to be returned “to end doubts on his living status”.

Eight civilians including three children were killed on Thursday when unexploded munitions ignited at a house in northwestern Syria, a war monitor and the civil defence said.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported the deadly blast a day after another organisation said two-thirds of Syrians were at risk of being killed or wounded by unexploded ordnance.”The final toll in an explosion of leftover war munitions in a house” in Idlib province is “eight dead including three children, one of them an infant, and two women”, the Observatory said, adding another child was injured.Syria’s civil defence gave the same toll.An AFP correspondent saw rescue teams retrieving bodies from the rubble of the destroyed house in Al-Nayrab.Civil defence worker Mohammed Ibrahim said they had been called to the scene of an “explosion of unknown provenance”. “When teams headed to the site, they found unexploded ordnance,” he added.The Observatory said the owner of the house was a scrap dealer who collected unexploded ordnance for its metal content.Residents told AFP that the owner had stored the scrap adjacent to the house.Journalists were not allowed to approach the site for fear of further explosions.Non-governmental organisation Humanity and Inclusion had warned on Wednesday of the dangers posed by unexploded munitions left over from the devastating civil war that erupted in 2011.It said experts estimated that between 100,000 and 300,000 of the roughly one million munitions used during the war had never detonated.- ‘Absolute disaster’ -It’s “an absolute disaster”, the group’s Syria programme director Danila Zizi said, adding that “more than 15 million people (are) at risk” out of a resident population of some 23 million.As hundreds of thousands of Syrians return to their homes after Islamist-led rebels toppled Bashar al-Assad in December, “urgent action is needed to mitigate the risk of accident”, the group said.According to UN figures, more than one million people have returned to their homes since Assad fled, 280,000 of them from abroad.Zizi said that the crude barrel bombs used in large numbers by Assad’s air force during the war had a “higher rate of failing” than other munitions.She said that mines planted by Islamic State group jihadists during their slow retreat in the late 2010s meant there were also “lots of booby traps that have never been really marked or mapped”.In January alone, 125 unexploded ordnance accidents were recorded in which at least 85 people were killed and 152 injured, Humanity and Inclusion said.Most of the casualties have been farmers tending their fields or flocks, or children playing outdoors, it said.

Hundreds of Chinese workers started to arrive home on Thursday after being freed from online scam centres in Myanmar, as authorities crack down on the illegal operations.Thousands of foreigners are expected to be repatriated from Myanmar in the coming weeks, starting with hundreds of Chinese nationals over the next three days.The compounds are run by …

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