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Jerusalem bus bombing kills seven
A suicide bomber blew himself up on a crowded Jerusalem bus Sunday morning, killing seven people and wounding more than 60, 11 of them seriously, police and rescue workers said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which came just a day before the world court is to begin hearings on the West Bank separation barrier Israel says is crucial for keeping out bombers.
The huge blast went off about 8:30 a.m. during the morning rush hour as the bus drove past a gas station. The explosion ripped apart the back of the bus and scattered body parts and shattered glass across a two block radius.
Rescue workers at the scene placed body parts into body bags.
"I heard a huge explosion and saw people running around and I just started crying," said Anne Reichart, a German tourist who was on a nearby bus.
Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat said he condemned the attack and urged "the United States to step up its efforts to revive the peace process."
Israeli officials said the blast proved the need for the security barrier it is building in the West Bank.
"Palestinian terror continues to pose a clear and present threat to Israeli civilians," said David Baker, an official in Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's office.
Earlier Sunday, Israeli workers started removing a section of the West Bank separation barrier, a day before the world court begins a hearing on the legality of the structure.
The move appears aimed at softening international criticism ahead of the legal proceedings, though Israel's Foreign Minister said the timing was purely coincidental.
Workers started taking down a stretch of the barrier — about 5 miles of fencing, razor wire and trenches — that has isolated the Palestinian town of Baka al-Sharkia from the rest of the West Bank for more than a year.
In the West Bank on Saturday, thousands of Palestinians staged protests of the barrier.
In one of the largest public outpourings of anger over the barrier, Palestinians across the West Bank fired guns in the air and shouted anti-barrier chants — the first of several protests planned to coincide with the opening of hearings on Monday at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands.
The security barrier, a complex of walls, fences, razor wire and watchtowers, has become one of the most contentious issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel says the barrier is needed to stop suicide bombers and other attackers from entering Israeli towns and cities.
Palestinians are outraged because parts of the barrier that cut into the West Bank disrupt the lives of thousands. They also worry it will make it impossible to build an independent Palestinian state on the territory.
Construction of the barrier began more than a year ago and about a third of its eventual 450 miles is complete.
In later stages of the project, the barrier complex is to cut even deeper into the West Bank to wrap around Jewish settlements. That would separate thousands more Palestinians from their farmland, schools and jobs.
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia dismissed Israel's route adjustment and said all parts of the barrier built on West Bank land must be removed. "We do not approve of even 1 millimeter of this wall that falls on our land," he said. The largest Palestinian demonstration Saturday was in the city of Nablus, where 2,000 people, including dozens of gunmen in black ski masks, marched through the streets. The noisy display was punctuated by the rattle of gunshots fired into the air. In the West Bank towns of Ramallah and Jenin, hundreds of people, including women and children, carried banners with slogans against the barrier. Near Qalqiliya, a Palestinian town that sits on the boundary with Israel and is surrounded by walls and fences, about 1,000 people protested. "Peace without the wall," some shouted. Palestinians are planning several demonstrations and general strikes Monday as a backdrop to the opening of The Hague proceedings. Church bells will be rung and sirens sounded across the Palestinian territories as a moment of silence is observed. The International Court of Justice is the highest judicial body of the United Nations and took on the case at the request of the U.N. General Assembly. Its ruling on the barrier's legality is nonbinding, but both sides have invested great effort in the case because the outcome is likely to influence international opinion. Also Saturday, Israeli officials close to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon left for Britain to update Prime Minister Tony Blair's aides on Israel's so-called unilateral disengagement plan that could include the removal of several Gaza Strip and West Bank settlements, Israeli media reported. In violence Saturday, Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian man in an off-limits military zone near the fence between Israel and the Gaza Strip, the military said. An army spokesman said he did not know if the man was armed. Palestinian officials said he was a policeman. |
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