Jonah, a few details are just beginning to emerge. There were at least 25 injured, 15 of them critically; early reports claimed at least one in emergency surgery, and now there are reports that one is dead. The obvious context for this is yesterday’s strikes against Islamic Jihad militants in Gaza in retaliation for the mortar rounds fired into southern Israel. This bombing is a rupture to Jerusalem’s relative quiet since the frequent attacks of the early aughts — the most recent, in fact, was in 2004. The Israeli police have declared the bus bombing a terrorist act. Meanwhile, Jonathan Peled, spokesman for the Israeli embassy in Washington, has tweeted, “Correction: bomb in Jerusalem not on bus and apparently not a suicide attack.” The pictures available of the destroyed bus do make it difficult to imagine that the bomb exploded from within.
UPDATE: The most detailed report I can find is here. It’s now confirmed that the bomb was not on the bus — it may have been tied to a telephone pole or left in a bag. The attack happened just outside the “International Convention Center in Jerusalem, just opposite the central bus station.”