A driver told passengers to get off his bus and evacuate the area minutes before a bomb placed under a seat detonated, according to an Israeli television report Friday night on the botched bus bombing plot outside Tel Aviv a night earlier.

Three empty buses exploded in quick succession in parking lots in the Tel Aviv suburbs of Bat Yam and Holon Thursday night and one or two more bombs were discovered on additional buses in Holon. No casualties occurred as a result of the explosions.

There have been conflicting reports on the matter, which is thought to have been a narrowly averted large-scale terror attack, and much of the case is covered by a gag order.

Channel 12 news reported that a terrorist boarded one of the buses shortly after 8 p.m. with a bomb held in a bag, while several people were onboard.

He sat down in the back and attempted to hide the bag below a seat, the network reported, before leaving. A woman who saw him told the driver there was a suspicious item on board.

The driver then called his Dan company superiors, who told him to get all the passengers off, and he did so. As he told his bosses he was minutes from a bus depot, they urged him to head there to keep the vehicle away from passersby.

After parking the bus, the driver got off and police were called, but the bomb went off before they could arrive, destroying the vehicle.

The TV report said all the bombs apparently had the writing, “Revenge from Tulkarem” on them, in reference to the Palestinian city where Israeli........

© The Times of Israel