Bomb blast in Jerusalem bus station

British woman killed in Jerusalem bus station bomb

Jerusalem News Updates! A British woman was the only victim killed in a bomb blast near a Jerusalem bus station yesterday.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokesman said: “We can confirm a British National was killed in the bus bomb in Jerusalem on 23 March. We are providing consular assistance."

A woman was killed and more than 30 people wounded when a bomb ripped through a bus in Jerusalem on Wednesday.

The Briton died in an ambulance on her way to hospital. It is not clear whether the woman was a tourist or lived in Israel. The bomb was the first in more than six years.

Two kilos of explosives were positioned close to the central bus station in Jerusalem, according to reports. The bomb is thought to have been packed with metal causing shrapnel injuries to people as they queued for buses.

Two buses had stopped to pick up passengers at the time of the explosion. The 174 bus was particularly badly hit.

It came hours after militants vowed revenge for two deadly Israeli raids on Gaza.

The bombing also came several hours after two Grad rockets fired by Gaza militants hit the southern city of Beersheva.

Following the attack, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said that Israel would act "aggressively, responsibly and wisely" in wake of a recent upsurge in violence.

Israeli jets staged three air strikes over Gaza overnight but there were no casualties, Palestinian sources said early this morning.

Two of the raids targeted the city of Gaza while another was aimed at a tunnel near the Egyptian frontier at Rafah, they said.

An Israeli defence spokeswoman confirmed the sorties, saying: "The air force targeted two tunnels at the south of the Gaza Strip and a terrorist target in Gaza."

"These raids followed 25 rocket hits, including four Grads, on Israel since Saturday."