A 27 year old Arab resident of the village of Shuafat in Jerusalem was arrested over the weekend on suspicion that he planted fake explosive devices on the city's light railway system. The incident occurred last week during the midst of Operation Pillar of Defense, and twice caused a shutdown of several of the system's lines for several hours.
A report on Voice of Israel public radio said that the suspect told interrogators under questioning that he had operated alone, and was not affiliated with Hamas or any other terrorist group. Police have asked the Jerusalem civil court for an extension of his remand.
The devices, which were cylinders with wires attached, did not contain any explosives, but they appeared to passengers and security officials to be bombs, requiring members of the police bomb squad to remove and detonate them. The devices were found on the train line that travels from Pisgat Ze'ev in northern Jerusalem to the neighborhood of French Hill. The train goes through Shuafat, and there have been a number of security incidents on the line before, including a stabbing.
Last Thursday, after the cease-fire ending the operation was announced, Arabs from the Beit Hanina neighborhood threw a firebomb or large brick at the window of a train. The train's engineer continued through to the next stop, when security officials boarded the train and opened an investigation.