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16 killed in Israel blast
HAIFA (ISRAEL), DEC. 2. A bomb exploded in a bus in the northern Israeli city of Haifa on Sunday, killing 15 persons, the rescue service said, hours after two Palestinian suicide bombers blew themselves up in downtown Jerusalem, in an unprecedented wave of terror strikes.
Israeli officials blamed Mr. Yasser Arafat, with one Cabinet Minister saying he should be expelled from the region. The beleaguered Mr. Arafat convened an emergency meeting of his leadership, said an aide, Mr. Nabil Abu Rdeneh. Mr. Abu Rdeneh said the body ``is about to take a very serious and urgent decision.'' He gave no details. Israel and the United States have been demanding from Mr. Arafat a sweeping campaign against the radical groups.
The Hamas group claimed responsibility for Sunday's attack, and for the twin suicide bombing in a Jerusalem pedestrian mall on Saturday night that killed 10 young Israelis. Hamas and its sister group Islamic Jihad had vowed revenge against Israel's killing nine days ago of a top Hamas militant in the West Bank. Abdel Aziz Rantisi, a senior Hamas official in Gaza, said ``the Palestinian people are adamant on continuation of resistance...until defeat of occupation, regardless of the price.''
The attacks caused the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr. Ariel Sharon to cut short a U.S. trip. Mr. Sharon was planning to meet the U.S. President, Mr. George W. Bush later on Sunday - a meeting originally scheduled for Monday - and then rush back home. The U.S. peace envoy, Gen. Anthony Zinni, who arrived last week in hopes of ending 14 months of violence, laid a wreath at the site of Saturday's attack in a Jerusalem Ben Yehuda cafe district. ``This is the deepest evil that one can imagine, to attack young people, children,'' he said. Earlier, Gen. Zinni said he had told Mr. Arafat ``that those responsible...must be found and brought to justice. This is an urgent task and there can be no delay nor excuses for not acting decisively.''
A rescue service spokesman said 15 persons were killed and about 40 wounded in the Haifa blast, which shattered one bus and sent it careening about 100 meters, damaging another bus and cars along the way. ``I saw people flying into the air, so high up it was unbelievable,'' said one eyewitness. The front of the red-and-white city bus was twisted and burned, its roof buckled upward and sides blown out. The area police commander, Mr. Yaakov Borovsky said it was possible that a Palestinian suicide bomber has set off the explosion, but the investigation was continuing.
In Israel, there was growing pressure to react more harshly than in the past. The Infrastructure Minister, Mr. Avigdor Lieberman, called for expelling Mr. Arafat, bringing down his Palestinian Authority and sending Israeli troops into Palestinian-controlled territory.
Violence continued elsewhere as well on Sunday. In northern Gaza, two Palestinians opened fire on Israeli cars in the northern Gaza Strip, killing one person and wounding five others before soldiers shot them dead. The militant Hamas group claimed responsibility. In east Jerusalem, an Israeli guard at a bank in the Arab section of Jerusalem shot and killed a Palestinian, police and Palestinian security officials said.
The bombs went off around 11:30 p.m. on Saturday, an hour when the Ben Yehuda mall is usually crowded with young people strolling and sitting at sidewalk cafes. The two bombers were standing about 30 meters from each other, police said. The blasts were so powerful that they shattered the windows of cars parked a block away. Blood was splattered across store fronts, and bits of flesh and metal bolts from the explosives were strewn on the ground.
In a statement, the Palestinian Authority condemned the Jerusalem attacks, expressing its ``deep anger...and pain'' and accusing those behind it of trying to derail a U.S. peace initiative.
- AP
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