Jerusalem bombing funeral: 'Aryeh didn't know anger'

Hundreds of people gathered for the funeral of Aryeh Shechopek, 16, a Canadian-Israeli resident of Har Nof who was killed in the bombing attack in Jerusalem on Wednesday morning.

Shechopek was on his way to yeshiva and was waiting for the school bus when the bomb placed by a Palestinian terrorist detonated, mortally wounding him and injuring 18 others.

IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi decided to cut his ongoing visit to the US short after a situation assessment on Wednesday afternoon, according to the IDF Spokesperson's Unit.

Kohavi is expected to land in Israel on Thursday.

Israeli forces will reach the terrorists who set off bombs in Jerusalem, Prime Minister Yair Lapid warned on Wednesday, hours after the attack that killed an Israeli teen and injured 19.

“I want to tell the citizens of Israel that we will get to them,” Lapid said. “They can run, they can hide, but it won’t help them. Security forces will get to them. If they resist, they will be taken out. If not, we will deal with them to the full extent of the law.”

The Jerusalem attack was different from others in recent years, and Israel’s intelligence bodies are making an effort to find who was behind it, he added.

Lapid instructed security forces to increase their presence in Jerusalem and ensure that there will be no further attacks.

The prime minister sent his condolences to the family of Aryeh Shechopak, 16, who was murdered in the attack.

Lapid called Shechopak “a youth who did nothing wrong to anyone in the world and was murdered only because he is Jewish.”

The prime minister also referred to the abduction of Tiran Ferro, an 18-year-old Israeli Druze who was hospitalized in Jenin when Palestinian terrorists disconnected him from life support and took his body.

“There is no place and no terrorist that we cannot reach, from the Kasba in Nablus to the Jenin refugee camp to distant battle sites. If Tiran’s body is not returned, the kidnappers will pay a heavy price,” Lapid warned.

United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland worked in coordination with the Palestinian Authority on Wednesday to try secure Ferro’s release, a diplomatic source confirmed.

The prime minister spoke following a security assessment at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv with Defense Minister Benny Gantz, National Security Adviser Eyal Hulata, Chief of Police Yaakov Shabtai, Shin Bet head Ronen Bar and others.

Lapid briefed presumptive prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu following the terrorist attacks in Jerusalem on Thursday.

Netanyahu encouraged the efforts to find the terrorists and thanked Lapid for the update, Netanyahu's office said.

The White House on Wednesday condemned two bomb blasts at bus stops in Jerusalem and said the United States had offered to help Israel in its investigation of the attacks, in which one person was killed and at least 14 others injured.

"We condemn unequivocally the acts of terror overnight in Jerusalem. The United States has offered all appropriate assistance to the Government of Israel as it investigates the attack and works to bring the perpetrators to justice," White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.

"We mourn the reported loss of life and wish a speedy recovery to the injured. The United States stands with the Government and people of Israel."

At least one person was killed and 19 wounded in two explosions in bus stops at separate entrances to Jerusalem on Wednesday morning, in what police are treating as a coordinated double terror attack.

The fatality was identified as 16-year-old Aryeh Shechopek, who was on his way to a yeshiva in a nearby community when the explosion occurred. The Canadian citizen lived in the capital’s Har Nof neighborhood.

Prime Minister Yair Lapid briefed prime minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu following the terrorist attacks in Jerusalem on Wednesday.

The meeting between the departing and likely incoming premiers came after Lapid held a security assessment at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv with Defense Minister Benny Gantz, National Security Adviser Eyal Hulata, Chief of Police Yaakov Shabtai, Shin Bet head Ronen Bar and others.

16-year-old Aryeh Shechopek has been named as the teen killed in the Jerusalem terror attack on Wednesday morning.

The Har Nof resident studied in a Yeshiva close to the entrance of the city.

President Isaac Herzog attended a ceremony for the Ethiopian Jewish holiday of Sigd on Wednesday in Armon Hanatziv, Jerusalem, and addressed the terror attack that had occurred earlier in the day.

"I want to address the difficult day, a day full of anxiety, worry and pain, that is felt around Israel and Jerusalem. This terror attack will not weaken us, will not make us doubt our belief in our ways, or in our right to a peaceful and safe life in Israel, including in our eternal capital of Jerusalem," he said.

"We will continue to be strong against hateful and despicable terrorists, and we will prove that there is no power in the world that can break the Israeli spirit. In the name of the Israeli people, I send my condolences to the families of the injured and I pray for the health of the injured people.

"I send my support to the security forces, which I fully trust to operate with all of their might to defeat the terror in general, and those in charge of the attack today."

Prime minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu is set to visit the victims of Wednesday morning's Jerusalem terror attack in Shaare Zedek Medical Center later on Wednesday afternoon.

The explosive placed at the scene of the first terrorist bombing attack in Jerusalem on Wednesday morning was a powerful device containing explosives and black metal screws made of hard material which were placed inside the device in order to increase the severity of the damage.

The device placed at the scene of the second explosion, at the Ramot junction, was smaller and less powerful, according to initial tests carried out by Israel Police.