Palestinian bomber detonated explosives on a crowded bus, with 19 passengers reported dead and dozens more wounded.
The Islamic militant group Hamas claimed responsibility for the blast, with eye-witnesses said reverberated throughout Israel’s capital. Rescue workers explained that many of those injured were children and teenagers who were riding the bus to school.
The International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) said the blast occurred before 8 am local time during morning rush hour traffic at the Patt Intersection in the capital’s Katamon neighbourhood. However the attack did not came as a surprise.
The well informed ICEJ reported that Jerusalem security services received "two or three precise terror warnings in the last weeks. Police were on especially high alert throughout Jerusalem" on Monday night, June 17, the ICEJ said.
"DIFFERENT BOMBER"
It was not clear if the bomber who struck was the one they were looking for. Jerusalem mayor Ehud Olmert told Army Radio that the information a day earlier "referred to a different bomber and a different area""of the capital and that police were still "on alert."
Ringed by a heavy contingent of bodyguards and police, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon made an unusual visit to the scene and was seen walking past a line of body bags, some with the feet of victims still sticking out.
As Sharon approached the wreckage of the bus, which was blown apart by the force of the blast, he questioned the type of state Palestinians want to establish.
HORRIBLE PICTURES
"The horrible pictures we saw here today of these murderous acts by the Palestinians are stronger than any words," he was quoted as saying by local reporters. "It is interesting (to wonder) what kind of Palestinian state they intend to create? What are they talking about?," he wondered.
"This terrible thing…is a continuation of the Palestinian terror which we will fight against," Sharon said. However Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat condemned the bombing and denied Israeli accusations that the Palestinian Authority should be blamed for the attack.
David Baker, a spokesman for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, blamed Palestinian Authority head Yasser Arafat for Tuesday’s attack. "The Jerusalem attack indicates that the Palestinian Authority continues to export terror into Israel," he said. "The Palestinian Authority is drenched in terror. This terror has seeped into (Palestinian) society. Terror flows from the PA like an open faucet."
PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY
However Palestinian Chief Negotiator Saeb Erekat denied that the Palestinian Authority was to blame. "The Palestinian Authority condemns this attack and repeats its position of not condoning the killing of civilians, both Palestinians and Israelis," he said in an interview.
Palestinian officials have suggested that what they see as Israel’s occupation only fuelled the desperation of people, with some willing to take their own lives and that of others. Christians living in the area, including Palestinians, have condemned suicide bombings but recently warned United States President George W. Bush that Sharon "is not a man of peace."
The latest attack came as Israeli troops continued to build a wall around Palestinian territories to separate them from Israeli land, a move condemned by the Palestinian Authority. However the Israeli Government has said the wall is the best way to prevent future incursions by suicide bombers.
