Hamas, Islamic Jihad claim responsibility for bomb blast in Tel Aviv

JERUSALEM, Aug 19 (Reuters) – The armed wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility on Monday for a bomb blast near a synagogue in Tel Aviv that Israeli police and the Shin Bet intelligence agency described as a terrorist attack.

A man who was carrying the bomb was killed and a passerby was injured in the incident late on Sunday, according to police at the scene in Israel’s commercial capital.

Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer said the man was carrying a backpack loaded with explosives that detonated “before he managed to reach a more heavily populated area”.

In a joint statement, the two Palestinian militant groups said their “martyrdom operations” inside Israel would return to the forefront as long as the “occupation’s massacres and assassination policy continue”. This was an allusion to Israel’s offensive in Gaza and the July 31 killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.