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The Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet) has arrested 14 suspects for possible involvement in orchestrating and carrying out a bombing attack on a bus south of Tel Aviv two weeks ago, an Israeli court announced Thursday.
Thirteen of the suspects are Palestinians believed to be part of the Islamic Jihad Militant movement, and one Israeli-Bedouin who is suspected of driving the perpetrator of the attack into central Israel.
The Magistrate Court in Ashkelon lifted the gag order over the Shin Bet investigation and revealed the protocols from the court proceedings on Thursday.
The bomb was detected before exploding by a passenger on the number 240 bus on Dec. 22. There were no casualties in the incident.
The Shin Bet, along with the Israeli Defense Forces, carried out several raids in the West Bank following the attack and arrested several suspects, specifically in the area of Bethlehem.
According to the Shin Bet, the two central suspects were incarcerated in Israel in the past: Shahada Ta' amri, 24 and his brother Hamdi, 21, who is a police cadet in Jericho.
Another suspect, Sami Harimi, 20, is an illegal Palestinian worker who worked at a restaurant in Jaffa.
The brothers are believed to have built the bomb with explosives, bolts, nails and an operating system through cellular phone able to detonate the bomb from afar. Harimi packed the bomb with him from Hebron and was driven into Israel. Harimi is the one who placed the bomb and the bus and then operated it by a cellular phone.
Other suspects that have been arrested are suspected of playing various roles in the militant infrastructure that enabled the botched attack.
According to the Shin Bet, the suspects have admitted for planning the attack for several months and for planning another attack in the future against Israelis.
