The IDF carried out an overnight operation this week in the Bethlehem district, arresting 12 terror operatives. Among them was Saeed Osama Issa Al-Hermas, a Hamas member involved in the 2016 bus bombing in Jerusalem’s Talpiot neighborhood, in which 21 people were wounded
Al-Hermas was released on January 21, 2025, as part of the hostage deal in which four Israeli observers were freed. Upon his return home, he was welcomed as a hero. But this week he was sent back to his prison cell
The January 25 hostage deal and its aftermath
That stormy January night saw snow falling on Jerusalem and Bethlehem, as Israel and Hamas advanced to another stage of the hostage release deal. Four young women abducted from Nahal Oz on October 7 – Naama Levy, Liri Elbag, Daniela Gilboa, and Karina Arayev – were freed
In exchange, Israel released about 200 Palestinian prisoners. Among them was Al-Hermas, 39, who had served less than nine of his 14-year sentence for his role in the Jerusalem bus bombing. Despite the stormy weather, crowds in Beit Sahour celebrated his return with motorcycles, cheering, and embraces
Saeed Osama Issa Hermas returns home in January 2025 after his release pic.twitter.com/KBOT92o0PW
— jerusalem online (@Jlmonline) August 18, 2025
The Jerusalem bus bombing – Talpiot, 2016
The attack that sent Al-Hermas to prison took place on April 18, 2016. A 19-year-old Hamas operative, Abdel Hamid Abu Srour, boarded Egged bus line 12 and detonated the explosives strapped to his body as the bus reached Moshe Baram Street. Twenty-one passengers and bystanders were injured, some seriously. The only fatality was the bomber himself
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Family ties and a legacy of violence in Jerusalem
Shin Bet’s investigation revealed that the bombing was organized by a Hamas cell from Bethlehem. Al-Hermas’s specific role was to help the bomber write and record his “will.” For this he received a 14-year prison sentence
His brother, Taleb Al-Hermas, was killed on March 10, 2002, when the bomb he was carrying exploded prematurely while en route to carry out an attack in Jerusalem. Since then, his body has remained in Israeli custody
