Updated on Fox News Channel:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,87155,00.html Homicide Bombers Strike Jerusalem in Separate Attacks
Sunday, May 18, 2003
JERUSALEM — Two homicide bombings (search) rocked Jerusalem early Sunday, in a surge of attacks apparently timed to coincide with the first high-level summit between Israel and the Palestinians in more than two years.
In the first early morning attack, a bomber blew himself up aboard a commuter bus, killing seven people, along with the bomber, and injuring at least 20 others, four of whom were in serious condition. In the second attack, on the outskirts of the city, only the bomber was reported killed.
The first attack was on a number 6 city bus at an intersection on Jerusalem's northern edge, according to a police statement. Four dead passengers were still in their seats in the front of the bus, one leaning out a window, an hour after the blast.
Police said the second bomber blew himself up at the entrance to the village of Dahiya el-Barid, near Jerusalem (search). Police said the bomber was killed in the blast on the highway, and no one else was hurt.
Police said the second bomber blew himself up at the entrance to the village of Dahiya el-Barid, near Jerusalem. Police said the bomber was killed in the blast, and no one else was hurt.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
The Sunday bombings were part of a sudden surge in Palestinian attacks -- four in 12 hours -- including a bombing in the West Bank city of Hebron (search) in which an Israeli husband and wife were killed. Also, two armed Palestinians tried to attack a Jewish settlement in the West Bank and were killed by soldiers.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (search) canceled his trip to Washington in the wake of the homicide bombings. He was to talk with President Bush about the Mideast peace plan.
The bus bomber struck at a few minutes before 6 a.m. on Sunday morning, a work day in Israel, at the beginning of rush hour.
Witnesses said the bomb went off on a large bus divided into two sections as it neared a bridge in one of Jerusalem's largest intersections, outside the Arab neighborhood of Shuafat and the Jewish neighborhood of French Hill, in the part of Jerusalem that Israel captured in the 1967 war -- an area that is also claimed by the Palestinians.
Jerusalem police commander Mickey Levy told Israel Radio that the bus had left the suburb of Pisgat Zeev. "The explosive was large," he said, "and the bus was shattered."
It was the first such attack in Jerusalem since last November. In 93 terrorist attacks since the current violence erupted in September 2000, 357 bystanders have been killed. Most were carried out by Hamas (search) and Islamic Jihad, but recently the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, linked to the mainstream Fatah (search), have taken responsibility.
Witnesses and rescue workers said the bomber blew himself up in the front of the bus. The long vehicle was blown onto the side of the road, and all the windows were shattered. A woman's purse lay in the street about 70 yards in front of the bus.
The attack came a few hours after the end of the first Israeli-Palestinian summit meeting in almost three years. Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas (search) and Sharon met at the Israeli prime minister's Jerusalem office.
In a statement after the meeting, Sharon said it was agreed that the first priority in peacemaking must be stopping Palestinian attacks.
Responding to the Sunday morning attack, David Baker, an official in Sharon's office, said the Palestinian Authority must use "all means available" to stop the attacks. "Palestinian terror cannot rule the Palestinian agenda," he said.
Just before the summit meeting, a Palestinian homicide bomber blew himself up in a crowd of Israelis in the West Bank city of Hebron, killing an Israeli man and his pregnant wife.