Twenty-one people were hurt Wednesday when a bus exploded in Israel’s commercial capital, Tel Aviv, the first such attack in the city in six and a half years. Meanwhile, leaders continued to discuss a cease-fire to the conflict between Israel and Hamas that is now in its second week.

A spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the event a “terrorist attack.” There appears to have been no fatalities. Eleven people were killed in Gaza on the same day.

The bus was passing the city’s military headquarters at the time of the blast. Police are searching for a suspected bomber. Hamas praised the attack but did not claim responsibility.

According to Israel’s ministry of foreign affairs, the last such attack in Tel Aviv occurred in April 2006. A suicide bomber in a restaurant killed 11 people.

Some 147 Palestinians and five Israelis have been killed in eight days of fighting between Israel and militants in Gaza.

— Posted by Alexander Reed Kelly.

BBC:

Celebratory gunfire reportedly rang out in Gaza when local radio relayed news of the attack.

BBC correspondents then reported a series of massive explosions in Gaza, in an apparent Israeli strike on the sports stadium. Reports from Gaza say the stadium has in the past been used as a site to launch rockets.

Among the casualties on Wednesday was a six-year-old boy.

The health ministry in Gaza says a doctor at the Shifa hospital was called to treat the boy. When he reached the patient, he found it was his own son and the boy was dead, the health ministry said.

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#benjamin netanyahu#gaza#hamas#israel#palestine#tel aviv