Hamas Says Member behind Jerusalem Bus Bombing

The Islamist movement Hamas on Thursday praised a young Palestinian it says was a member who carried out a Jerusalem bus bombing earlier this week that wounded 20 people.

The 19-year-old died on Wednesday, two days after an explosive device blew up on a bus in southern Jerusalem and sparked a fire.

The man was named by the Palestinian health ministry as Abdel Hamid Abu Sorur from Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, without giving further details.

Police have declined to comment on the specifics of the case, citing an ongoing gag order, including whether Abu Sorur was the attacker.

A statement from Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, praised his actions.

Images on social media appeared to show Abu Sorur wearing Hamas-affiliated paraphernalia.

The Islamist movement, however, did not formally claim the attack, though it hailed him as a martyr and called him "one of its sons" -- a term used to refer to Hamas members.

It added his death "will continue to fuel the uprising."

A statement on the website of Hamas's armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, announced the "death of Abdel Hamid Mohammed Abu Sorur, who carried out the explosion on bus number 12 in occupied Jerusalem."

Hamas officials in Gaza declined to comment on Thursday, only welcoming the attack.

The Hamas-affiliated Palestinian Information Center website carried an interview with Abu Sorur's father, saying he had been asked to identify his son's badly burned body.

It said the family had discovered a will written by Abu Sorur shortly before his death.