Israel cites bombing as reason for wall
Ahead of a world court hearing over Israel’s West Bank barrier, a Palestinian suicide bomber killed eight passengers on a Jerusalem bus, and Israeli officials said it was proof of why the controversial fence was needed.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon met his top security advisers to consider Israel’s response to the bombing yesterday.
No decisions were announced, but analysts predicted Israeli military action in Bethlehem. The bomber came from a nearby village.
Israeli forces – exercising a policy meant to deter attackers – demolished overnight the bomber’s home in the village of Hussan, the army said.
Palestinians condemn the policy as collective punishment.
The powerful blast on the bus “was like an earthquake”, witness Ora Yairov told Israel TV.
The political aftershocks were felt in The Hague, Netherlands, where the International Court of Justice was to begin a hearing about the Israeli barrier today, with Israeli and Palestinian groups gathering outside to demonstrate.
Palestinian officials, trying to mobilise world support for their case, were furious.
Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia said: “We look with anger at what happened, especially its timing and place. There is an attempt to harm the mission to The Hague.”
In Washington, a White House official said Qureia did not go far enough. “It is time to move beyond words and take action to dismantle these terrorist networks,” he said.
Israeli military officials said soldiers and police were preparing for Palestinian attacks today, including attempts to damage the barrier.
Israel insists it needs the complex barrier – with its walls, fences, trenches, lookout points and electronic sensors – to keep suicide bombers out.
Since violence erupted in September 2000, 463 people have been killed in 110 Palestinian suicide bombings.
However, Palestinians complain that the planned route of the barrier cuts deep into the West Bank at some points, isolating towns and villages and leaving Israel in control of large parts of the territory.
The Jerusalem bombing was the first since January 29, when 11 people were killed in a similar attack on a bus.
Among the victims of the latest bombing were several high school students.
Israeli officials said the attack never would have happened had the section of the barrier being built around Jerusalem already been completed.
Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz said: “This terror attack proves the absolute necessity of the fence as a lifesaving instrument, and we are determined to continue its construction and complete it.”
The blast was at the peak of the morning rush hour, as the packed public bus drove past a petrol station in Jerusalem overlooking the brown stone walls of the Old City.
The bomb, laced with pieces of iron, killed eight people in addition to the bomber and wounded 59 others, rescue officials said.
The explosion ripped apart the back of the green bus. The windows were blown out, the windshield splintered and the roof buckled.
Just before the blast, Israel began pulling down a particularly contentious five-mile section of fence that isolated the Palestinian town of Baka al-Sharkia from the rest of the West Bank.
Israel’s Defence Ministry said that section of fence was not needed, because a new section of barrier separating Baka al-Sharkia from Israel was now in place.
