Posted on 04/24/16
| News Source: Times of Israel
Hamas on Sunday released a video showing the terrorist who carried out last week’s Jerusalem bus bombing as he paid a condolence visit to a family member while dressed in military fatigues and wearing a Hamas head band.
The bomber who placed the explosive device on board the number 12 bus in the Talpiot neighborhood of the capital on April 18 was identified by the Shin Bet security agency as Abed al-Hamid Abu Srour, 19, from Beit Jala, near the West Bank city of Bethlehem.
Srour was one of 21 people injured in the attack. He was severely wounded and died of his injuries last Wednesday. The Shin Bet said the attack was a suicide bombing organized by Hamas. The security service said it arrested several members of a Hamas cell in the West Bank suspected of involvement in the bombing.
Although the terror group admits Srour was a member, it has not issued a direct claim of responsibility for the Jerusalem bombing. According to the Channel 2 report, Hamas even went to lengths following to attack to contact Palestinian media outlets that reported it had claimed responsibility to demand such reports be removed.
Screenshot from a video released by Hamas showing the Jerusalem bus bomber Abed al-Hamid Abu Srour, 19, from Beit Jala, in military fatigues during a condolence visit for a family member. (Channel 2)
In the video released Sunday, a short section of which was broadcast by Channel 2 television, the masked Srour was shown along with other Hamas members as he delivered a speech three months ago during a mourning event for a family member who was not identified in the report.
The video also included footage of masked Hamas men visiting the women’s mourning tent at the Srour family home, taking turns kissing the head of Srour’s mother.
According to the report the Hamas members were ejected from the men’s section after they were blamed for Srour’s death. The incident was not shown on video.
On Saturday, the Gaza-based Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, called the Srour family to offer his condolences, telling them that the “blood of martyrs is a beacon of light for those treading the path of liberation,” according to the official Hamas website.
The Jerusalem bus bombing marked the first suicide bombing in the wave of Palestinian terrorism that erupted last October. Hitherto, the attacks — stabbings, shootings and car-rammings — had been characterized as “lone wolf” incidents. Hamas has been encouraging attacks on Israelis, and several plots are said to have been thwarted by security forces.
Srour came from a well-known Bethlehem clan, some of whose members have a history of terrorism and violence against Israel.