An Islamic Jihad terrorist detained by Israel has confessed to planning the suicide bus bombing at Beit Lid a year ago.
Some 21 people – most of them soldiers waiting for buses back to their bases – were killed when two suicide bombers blew themselves up at an intersection near the Israeli coastal city of Netanya.
Abed Al-Balbist, who was being questioned by Israel’s domestic security service, the Shin Bet, since Dec. 6, reportedly confessed to the attack last week.
A third bomb was originally supposed to have been used in the attack, he said, but the suicide bomber never showed up and the bomb was hidden.
The Shin Bet retrieved the bomb, which contained some 33 pounds of explosive, from the place it was hidden not far from where the attack took place.
Balbisi made headlines in late December when the High Court of Justice upheld his petition against the Shin Bet’s use of force in interrogating him.
The court ordered the state attorney to explain within seven days why using physical force against Balbisi was necessary.
In response, the state attorney told the court that Balbisi had confessed to being the planner and organizer of the January 1995 Beit Lid attack.
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