Police sapper inspects garbage bin
Police sapper inspects garbage binIsrael news photo: Flash 90

A small pipe bomb hidden in a garbage bag exploded and blew off the arm of a Jerusalem Arab garbage worker Sunday. A second worker was treated for shock.

Police are investigating, but they assess that terrorists were behind the blast, which took place at the southern edge of Hevron Road, leading to Bethlehem. The workers were collecting garbage to be transported to a waste facility.

The worker, identified as 21-year-old Iyad Bashir, was rushed to Hadassah Hospital.

Although police have not speculated who was behind the terrorist attack, the Bethlehem-based Ma'an news agency quoted "local sources" as sayng that “extremist” Jews were behind the blast as part of a “price tag” policy in response to last week’s violent police raid at Gilad Farm (Havat Gilad).