Palestinian Attacks in Israel Kill 25 Over Weekend
Hamas Claims Responsibility for Explosions in Jerusalem, Haifa
By Albert Robinson
Reuters
HAIFA, Israel (Dec. 2) - A Palestinian suicide bomber killed at least 15 people and wounded dozens when he blew himself up on a bus in northern Israel on Sunday, hours after a double suicide attack killed 10 people in Jerusalem.
The bombings were among the deadliest attacks in Israel in years and marked one of the bloodiest phases of a 14-month-old Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation. They threatened to wreck a new U.S. peace mission led by envoy Anthony Zinni.
President Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority, under intense U.S. pressure to crack down on radical groups, declared a state of emergency and ordered its security forces to arrest militants who had planned and carried out the attacks.
Leading fierce international criticism of the attacks, U.S. President George W. Bush condemned the bombings before talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in Washington.
"This is a moment where the advocates for peace in the Middle East must rise up and fight terror. Chairman Arafat must do everything in his power to find those who murdered innocent Israelis and bring them to justice," he said.
The militant group Hamas, which opposes Israel's existence, claimed responsibility for the attacks. It said they were to avenge Israel's November 23 killing of Mahmoud Abu Hanoud, a military leader regarded by Israel as a master bombmaker.
A senior Palestinian security source said dozens of militants had been arrested since Saturday night in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The Israeli army responded to the bombings by announcing it was tightening its blockade of the West Bank by encircling Palestinian cities it had not already surrounded because of "numerous warnings of future attacks."
In a nightmarish sequel to Saturday night's suicide bombings in the heart of Jerusalem's cafe district, a Palestinian boarded an intercity bus in the port city of Haifa and blew himself up seconds later.
The explosion tore the roof off the bus, shattered windows and spread bodies and mangled body parts across a street in a residential neighborhood. Medical officials said at least 15 people were killed and 40 wounded, 17 of them seriously.
"Such was the force of the blast that the victims -- both those who died and those who were wounded -- didn't utter a word, not even a cry for help. There was complete silence," witness Arieh Zisso told Israel radio.
Israel said it held Arafat directly responsible for the attacks. The Palestinian Authority condemned the bombings, which it said were intended to foil peace efforts.
ATTACKS IN QUICK SUCCESSION
The rapidity of the attacks reminded Israelis of a series of suicide bombings in rapid succession in early 1996 which killed dozens of Israelis in response to Israel's killing of a top Hamas bombmaker with a booby-trapped cellphone.
The two almost simultaneous bombings in Jerusalem hurled victims and severed limbs through the air. Ten people were killed and 150 wounded, 17 of them critically.
Bystanders heckled Zinni on Sunday when he laid a wreath of yellow flowers at the scene, but he vowed to continue working for implementation of a ceasefire and a truce-to-talks plan.
Some Israelis believe the bombings were timed to coincide with his visit, and Sharon faces demands for a tough response.
It was the worst attack in Jerusalem since a suicide bomber killed 15 people in August in a pizzeria near the scene of Saturday's blasts.
In the northern Gaza Strip, two Palestinian militants infiltrated a Jewish settlement early on Sunday and shot dead an Israeli before being killed by soldiers.
Israeli forces arrested several Palestinian militants in the town of Abu Dis on the outskirts of Arab East Jerusalem before dawn on Sunday, Israeli military sources said. The raids were believed to be in response to the Jerusalem attack.
BUSH STEPS UP PRESSURE ON ARAFAT
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Arafat faced a "moment of truth" and must take decisive action to end violence.
Talks between Bush and Sharon were brought forward to Sunday from Monday to enable the premier to fly home early from the United States to tackle the crisis.
The United States wants calm in the Middle East to bolster Arab support for the U.S.-led anti-terror campaign following the September 11 hijacked plane attacks on New York and Washington.
French President Jacques Chirac condemned the bombings as "odious attacks that nothing could justify or explain." Russia's Foreign Ministry called the blasts a "monstrous crime."
Arafat held an emergency meeting with security chiefs in which they agreed on strict new measures, including banning all armed demonstrations and any public display of arms.
"The Palestinian leadership has decided to declare a state of emergency throughout the Palestinian territory," it said in a statement.
But Palestinian cabinet member Saeb Erekat said Israel also needed to do its part to end the violence. "The shortest way to...security and Middle East peace is ending the Israeli occupation," he told CNN television.
Stocks fell on the Tel Aviv stock exchange on fears of a widening Israeli-Palestinian conflict, traders said. The Tel Aviv-25 index of leading stocks closed 2.24 percent lower.
At least 736 Palestinians and 222 Israelis have been killed in the violence which erupted in September 2000, shortly after peace talks stalled.
12:53 12-02-01
Copyright 2001 Reuters Limited. |
