One dead, several injured in two explosions in Jerusalem

The separate explosions came after a 16-year-old Palestinian was killed in the occupied West Bank by Israeli forces, according to Palestinian officials.

At least one person was killed and 12 others injured in two separate explosions that rocked Jerusalem city, according to Israeli officials.

Israeli police said that the incidents on Wednesday morning are suspected of being a Palestinian attack.

The explosions came hours after a Palestinian 16-year-old boy was killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, according to Palestinian officials.

The first explosion took place at around 7am (4:00am GMT) near an Israeli bus station along a highway on the western entrance into Jerusalem that is usually packed with commuters.

At least seven people were injured in the first explosion, according to medics, with two in serious condition.

The second explosion, which officials described as “controlled,” took place moments later at the Ramot junction, in northern Jerusalem. Officials said about three people were lightly injured from shrapnel.

Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher said that the explosions were the first Jerusalem had seen “in many years”.

Reporting from Ramot, Fisher said police believe the first incident was caused by “explosives packed inside a bicycle left at a bus stop”.

Yosef Haim Gabay, a medic who was at the scene when the blast occurred, told Army Radio that “there is damage everywhere here” and that some of the wounded were bleeding heavily.

Following the incidents, the Israeli army, based on a decision by the defence minister, announced the closure of two key checkpoints in the Jenin area – the Jalameh and Salem checkpoints.

While the cause was still being determined, the incident came as tensions on the ground continue to rise since last year. Israeli army raids and killings of Palestinians in towns and villages in the occupied West Bank have increased over the last period in parallel with a rise in Palestinian armed attacks, as well as an increase in settler attacks against Palestinians.

At least 200 Palestinians, including over 50 children, have been killed by Israel in the occupied territories of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the besieged Gaza Strip – the deadliest year for Palestinians since 2006.

At least 25 people have also been killed on the Israeli side.

Just after midnight on Wednesday, Palestinian health officials confirmed the killing of 16-year-old boy in Nablus, Ahmad Amjad Shehadeh, with a bullet in the heart.

Israeli forces had raided Nablus in the northern occupied West Bank to secure the entry of Israeli settlers to the sensitive site of Joseph’s Shrine, which lies about a kilometre away from Nablus’ city center.

At least four other Palestinians were injured after being shot with live ammunition, medics said.

Itamar Ben-Gvir, a far-right lawmaker who has called for the death penalty for Palestinians who carry out attacks, and who is set to become the minister in charge of police in the country’s new government, said the Jerusalem explosions mean he will enforce stronger measures.

“It’s time to take a hard line against terrorists, it’s time to make order,” he tweeted.

Hamas, the Palestinian group which governs the Israeli-besieged Gaza Strip, praised the attack, calling it a heroic operation, but stopped short of claiming responsibility.

“The occupation is reaping the price of its crimes and aggression against our people.”