Posted on 08/04/2002 2:54:16 AM PDT by kattracks
JERUSALEM, Aug 04, 2002 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- An apparent suicide bomber blew up a bus in northern Israel during rush hour Sunday, killing at least 10 people, wounding dozens and scattering charred remains across the highway, Israeli witnesses and officials said.
About three hours later, a Palestinian attacker opened fire just outside the walls of Jerusalem's Old City, sparking a gun battle that left three people dead, including the gunman, who was shot by police. An Israeli security guard was fatally shot after being pulled out of a truck belonging to a communications company, and an Arab bystander was killed in the crossfire, said Israeli government spokesman Danny Seaman. Several people were also hurt.
The bus was packed with Israelis on their way to work and a number of soldiers returning to their base at the beginning of the work week in Israel. It exploded at the Meron Junction between the towns of Acre and Tsfat, about 35 miles northwest of the West Bank.
The militant group Hamas claimed responsibility for the bus attack in a statement received in Lebanon by Hezbollah's television station, Al-Manar. Hamas said a suicide bomber had detonated the bomb as a second retaliatory attack for the death of Hamas' military leader, Salah Shehadeh, killed along with 14 other people in an Israeli bombing of Gaza last month.
The blast came four days after a bomb exploded in the cafeteria at Jerusalem's Hebrew University, killing seven people, including five Americans. Hamas claimed responsibility for that bombing as well.
The attacks in recent days prompted Israel to raid the West Bank city of Nablus on Friday in a hunt for militants. Israeli troops remained in the city on Sunday.
A senior police source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said 10 people were confirmed dead in Sunday's blast, including a number of soldiers. Thirty-seven people were injured, two critically, said David Peretz, head of the emergency ambulance service Magen David Adom in northern Israel.
"I picked up four dead myself," Haim Ben-Shimon, a civilian who was nearby at the time of the blast, told Army Radio. "The bus is simply crushed. It looks as if the explosion happened in the center of the bus."
The bus' windows were completely blown out and part of its roof and side were splayed open by the force of the blast, with debris scattered all around the area. Soldiers in flak vests and medical crews swarmed the scene as ambulances took away the injured.
Television footage from nearby hospitals showed several of the injured wearing green army uniforms.
"A soldier came out with his face and uniform covered with blood, and two Arabs from the nearby restaurant gave him first aid," said witness Pinhas Cohen.
The northern police chief, Yaakov Borovsky, said there was a "high probability" that a suicide bomber had carried out the attack.
Ron Ratner, a spokesman for the Egged bus company, said the passengers on bus No. 361 from Haifa to Tsfat were regulars on Sunday morning, many of them soldiers headed to bases in the north. He said security in Haifa is tight, but that a bomber could have boarded at one of the bus stops on the way.
An Israeli official blamed the Palestinian Authority, led by Yasser Arafat, for the attack saying it showed it "feeds on terror."
"This Palestinian terror must be uprooted and Israel will not relent in its pursuit of, and war against, Palestinian terror," said David Baker, an official in the office of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
The blast occurred as Israeli soldiers pressed their siege on Nablus, searching shops and houses for militants Israel says are responsible for recent attacks.
The army entered the town's Old City early Friday, arresting dozens of Palestinians and destroying at least two houses it said were bomb factories.
Israeli officials said Nabus had replaced Jenin as the main hub of terrorist cells responsible for recent attacks on Israelis.
In the Gaza Strip, meanwhile, soldiers shot dead an armed Palestinian dressed in a wet suit who had apparently swum to an area near the Jewish settlements of Dugit and Alei Sinai, the army said.
Also Sunday, as part of its new policy to demolish homes of suicide bombers and other militants, the army blew up four houses in and around the city of Jenin, Palestinian witnesses said.
In the West Bank city of Hebron, the army blew up another two houses, one of them belonging to a militant who took part on an attack on a Jewish settlement in April in which four people were killed.
The army said in a statement it had destroyed the houses of nine terrorists it said had carried out or planned attacks against Israelis.
Israeli officials had said high-level talks between Sharon and Palestinian Cabinet ministers could be expected later this week, but it was unclear whether the meetings would go ahead as planned after Sunday's bombing.
Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres also planned to meet Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo on Monday, Peres adviser Yoram Dori said on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the remains of American student Marla Bennett, 24, of San Diego, Calif., who was killed in the university bombing, were returned to the United States early Sunday. The remains of two other Americans were returned Friday, while an Israeli-American was buried in Jerusalem. The remains of an American-French citizen were to be sent to France on Monday.
By JACK KATZENELL Associated Press Writer
Copyright 2002 Associated Press, All rights reserved
Three dead in Jerusalem shooting (Updates with Jerusalem police chief, witness) JERUSALEM, Aug 4 (Reuters) - A Palestinian opened fire at an Israeli telephone company truck at a Palestinian market in East Jerusalem on Sunday, in an attack which left three people dead including the gunman, police said. Jerusalem police chief Mickey Levy told reporters that a 19-year-old Palestinian armed with a pistol attacked the Bezeq Israel Telecom vehicle, killing one Israeli inside before police shot the assailant dead. A second Palestinian, a bystander, was killed in what Levy said was an exchange of fire between the gunmen and police at the Damascus Gate entrance to the Old City of Jerusalem. The Magen David Adom ambulance service said 14 people were wounded. "We saw somebody standing by a truck. He leaned into the window. He had a pistol," said Carl Williams, 33, on holiday from Boston in the United States. "When I saw that, I got out of here and hit the ground and immediately we heard gunshots." A Reuters correspondent saw one body in the truck and two more in the doorways of shops. The shooting happened hours after a Palestinian suicide bomber killed at least nine people in an attack on a bus in northern Israel. Israel seized East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war and in a move not recognized internationally, declared all of the city its eternal capital. Palestinians want East Jerusalem to be capital of the state they hope to establish in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. ((Jerusalem newsroom, +972-25370502, jerusalem.newsroom@reuters.com)) 04 AUG 2002 09:56:24 UPDATE 1-Three dead in Jerusalem shooting © 1999 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
Just wait 'til we roll towards Baghdad.....Saddam will, under the almost certain threat of death, launch bio-chem laden Scuds - or nukes, if he has them - at Israel, and then all bets are off. This, imo, will be the catalyst that will set off a huge war in the Middle East, and the Pali situation will be dealt with (perhaps permanently) in the resulting mayhem.
I recall someone posting an account of events back in the 1920s detailing how people from the "religion of peace" were stabbing and murdering Jews. It was a chilling article!
MSNBC is even worse, especially the reporter Ashley Banfield (or whatever her name is).
I understand the time-consuming and intricate logistics involved, but some system could surely be initiated as buses appear to be THE prime targets.
After all, we know that security for Israel's airlines and airports is the best in the world and has been very effective, even near perfect.
Leni
Apparent?
AP is too nice.
Why isn’t enough done to prevent this? I mean it’s an EVERY DAY event. How does this continue?
Because the Israelis aren't willing to live in a locked down police state. The freedoms they enjoy are what make it possible for the murderers to operate.
Apparent?
AP is too nice
If you think AP is nice, you should see the kindness on Arab television. I was watching Egyptian television, and they don't even mention that it was a bombing - "An explosion occurred. Authorities are looking into the cause" or something like that.
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