Jerusalem suicide bombing kills seven
A suicide bomber blew himself up on a Jerusalem bus early today, and Israel Radio said seven passengers and the bomber were killed. At least 20 others were wounded, four seriously, and another bomber blew himself up on the outskirts of the city.
The attack was on a number 6 city bus at an intersection at the northern edge of the city, according to a police announcement. Israel Radio said seven were killed, in addition to the bomber. Four dead passengers were still in their seats in the front of the bus, one leaning out of a window, an hour after the blast.
Police said the second bomber blew himself up at the entrance to the village of Dahiya el-Barid, near Jerusalem. Police said the bomber was killed in the blast on the highway, and no one else was hurt.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
The Sunday bombings were part of a sudden surge in Palestinian attacks – four in 12 hours – including a bombing in the West Bank city of Hebron in which an Israeli man and his wife were killed.
Also, two armed Palestinians tried to attack a Jewish settlement in the West Bank and were killed by soldiers.
The attacks appeared to be timed to coincide with a summit meeting between the leaders of Israel and the Palestinians.
Also, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was due to leave for Washington later today for talks with US President George W Bush about a Middle East peace plan but Israel Radio announced this morning that he had now cancelled the trip in the wake of the suicide bombings.
The bus bomber struck at a few minutes before 6am local time (4am Irish time), at the beginning of a rush hour on a work day in Israel.
Witnesses said the bomb went off on a large bus divided into two sections as it neared a bridge in one of Jerusalem’s largest intersections, outside the Arab neighbourhood of Shuafat and the Jewish neighbourhood of French Hill, in the part of Jerusalem Israel captured in the 1967 war and claimed by the Palestinians.
Jerusalem police commander Mickey Levy told Israel Radio that the bus had left the suburb of Pisgat Zeev. “The explosive was large and the bus was shattered,” he said.
It was the first such attack in Jerusalem since last November. In 93 suicide attacks since the current violence erupted in September 2000, 357 bystanders have been killed. Most were carried out by Hamas and Islamic Jihad, but recently the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, linked to the mainstream Fatah, have taken responsibility.
Witnesses and rescue workers said the bomber blew himself up in the front of the bus. The long vehicle was blown onto the side of the road, and all the windows were shattered. A woman’s purse lay in the street about 70 yards in front of the bus.
The attack came a few hours after the end of the first Israeli-Palestinian summit meeting in almost three years. Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and Mr Sharon met at the Israeli Prime Minister’s Jerusalem office. In a statement after the meeting, Sharon said it was agreed that the first priority in peacemaking must be stopping Palestinian attacks.
Responding to this morning’s attack, David Baker, an official in Mr Sharon’s office, said the Palestinian Authority must use “all means available” to stop the attacks. “Palestinian terror cannot rule the Palestinian agenda,” he said.
Just before the summit meeting, a Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up in a crowd of Israelis in the West Bank city of Hebron, killing an Israeli man and his pregnant wife.
