Israel announced Tuesday night that it would retake parts of the West Bank and hold them as long as terror attacks continued, following a Palestinian suicide bombing on a bus packed with high school students that killed 19 Israelis.
The suicide bomber detonated a high-powered bomb on board a bus crowded with students and office workers during the morning rush hour in Jerusalem. In addition to killing the 19 Israelis and the bomber, the blast wounded about 40 others.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon held talks late into the night with his Cabinet ministers, and then the government announced there would be "a change in the way Israel responds to murderous acts of terror."
In a statement, the Israeli government said it would capture the Palestinian Authority's territory in the West Bank and would hold the areas "as long as the terror continues." More attacks would lead to more captured territories, the statement said.
And Tuesday night Israeli tanks rolled into the West Bank town of Jenin, isolating it from an adjacent refugee camp, Palestinian authorities said. The tanks then moved into the camp as helicopters began firing on the camp from above.
Peeled Back Like a Can of Sardines
The militant Islamic group Hamas claimed responsibility for the Jerusalem bus attack in a telephone call to Hezbollah television in Beirut, Lebanon. It identified the attacker as Mohammed al-Ghoul, 22, from the al Faraa refugee camp near the West Bank city of Nablus. However, Israeli officials say they continue to hold Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat responsible for such attacks.
Witnesses to Tuesday morning's suicide bombing said the blast was so powerful, it lifted the bus in the air and peeled back the roof like a can of sardines.
When the smoke cleared, the driver sat lifeless, his hands still on the steering wheel, as passers-by rushed to help survivors, according to witnesses.
Teachers from a nearby high school struggled to calm distraught parents as rescue workers rushed to the site of the deadliest suicide attack in Jerusalem since the current intifada began.
Israeli Education Minister Limor Livnat said seven students from the Ort Spanian high school were among the dead and wounded.
The bomber reportedly carried the bomb, packed with nails to act as shrapnel, inside a large suitcase. Police said everyone on board was either killed or injured, with most of the damage and fatalities concentrated in the front half of the bus.
The Egged bus was traveling from Gilo to central Jerusalem. Egged says the bomber boarded the bus in the village of Beit Safafa and detonated the bomb when the bus stopped at a traffic light in Katamon.
"There was a huge explosion, smoke and pieces of the bus and body parts were flying everywhere," a witness told Israeli army radio. "It was horrible."
Sharon Visits Scene of Horror
In a rare move, Sharon visited the scene of the attack: the Jerusalem suburb of Gilo, a residential neighborhood that Palestinians consider to be a Jewish settlement.
"The terrible pictures we see here are stronger than every word," Sharon told reporters at the site. "It's interesting to speculate what kind of Palestinian state they want. What are they talking about?"
His statement was widely believed to be aimed at the United States as its President Bush prepares to deliver a major Middle East policy address expected to provide the framework for a future Palestinian state. The speech could come later this week.
Officials from the Palestinian Authority condemned the suicide attack, saying they could not be blamed for acts carried out by desperate individuals. They pointed out that given the roadblocks and recent Israeli incursions into Palestinian towns and cities, they can no longer prevent people from committing acts like this.
Threat Carried Out
Earlier this week, Israeli police mounted a huge security operation in response to intelligence reports warning of suicide bombings in the area, but the security alert failed to prevent Tuesday's attack, which experts note was a well-planned operation.
The Israeli daily Ha'aretz said security sources believed the attack was connected to the killing Monday night of Walid Na'aman Aliu Sbeh, a senior member of Fatah's military wing. The newspaper said Sbeh was killed by snipers from the Israeli police's special anti-terror unit.
The attack came as Israel began work on what is expected to be a 215-mile electronic fence around the West Bank, designed to keep bombers out of Israel.
The erection of the fence has been criticized by Palestinians and Israeli settlers in the West Bank.
(China Daily June 19, 2002)
