Jerusalem, Dec 24 

Israeli Science and Technology Minister Ya'akov Peri said Monday that the recent spike in violence in the West Bank does not equate a third Palestinian uprising.

"There is a slight increase in violence. When there are signs of progress in the peace process, there will always be groups who will try to sabotage it," Xinhua reported citing Peri in a radio interview.

His remark came in the wake of a botched bus bombing near Tel Aviv Sunday, in which the driver and 15 passengers narrowly escaped death and a police officer was injured.

In the light of the attack in Bat Yam city, Israel Police chief Yohanan Danino had said that the threat of terrorism is "constantly looming, especially during these days when there is an attempt to make progress in the peace talks".

However, nobody claimed responsibility for the attack which militant groups had lauded for its "audacity".

US Secretary of State John Kerry, spearheading the efforts to reach a peace accord based on the two-state solution, warned last month that failure of the current negotiations could result in a new intifada and international isolation of Israel.

By:IANS