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A suicide bomber blew up on a bus on Jerusalem's Gaza Road not far from the Prime Minister's residence. At least 10 people were killed.
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| By israelinsider staff January 29, 2004 |
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An explosion took place on bus on Jerusalem's Gaza Road just before 9 a.m. this morning, not far from the Prime Minister's residence. Police officers said a suicide bomber blew himself up on the bus, totally destroying the vehicle. Ambulances quickly rushed to the scene. Ten Israelis were killed and nearly 50 people were wounded, ten of them seriously.
The blast occurred on a crowded #19 bus that left Hadassah University Hospital in Ein Kerem on its way to the center of the city. According to media reports, the bomber entered the bus from its back door and immediately detonated his explosives.
Police officials said the bomber had a large quantity of explosives. The driver of the bus said he did not notice any suspicious person boarding the bus.
The Fatah-related Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claimed "responsibility" for the attack. Palestinian sources named the bomber as Ali Yusuf Jaara, a 24-year-old Palestinian policeman from Bethlehem.
"It was a very serious attack on a bus packed with passengers," Jerusalem Police Chief Mickey Levy said at the scene. "According to what we know at the moment ... we're talking about a suicide bomber."
Bret Stephens, editor in chief of the Jerusalem Post, was near the scene at the time of the blast. "There was glass everywhere, human remains everywhere, shoes, feet, pieces of guts. There were pieces of body everywhere," he told the Associated Press.
The bombing occurred at the intersection of Gaza Road and Arlozorov Street, not far from the Moment Cafe, where 11 Israelis were killed by a suicide bomber in March 2002. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was not in his Jerusalem residence at the time of the blast.
The bombing was the first in Jerusalem since September 2003, when a suicide bomber exploded inside Cafe Hillel, killing seven people.
Magen David Adom rescue workers said they evacuated some 30 injured people from the scene. Ten of the injured are in serious condition, rescue workers said.
Police Commissioner Shlomo Aharonishky said no specific warnings had been recieved suggesting an impending attack in Jerusalem. Aharonishky said police had gone on alert throughout the country due to additional terror warnings.
Prisoner exchange will go on as planned
Media analysts said the bombing's timing, on the day of the prisoner exchange with Hizbullah, was intended to show that the Palestinian terror organizations were still active and had not ended their operations.
But other media analysts said that today's bombing could not have been planned in the short time since the prisoner exchange agreement was announced. Security forces are currently dealing with more than 50 warnings of planned terror attacks, a clear sign that the terrorists' efforts to attack Israeli targets have not stopped for a single day, the analysts said.
MK Aryeh Eldad (National Union) said that in the wake of the suicide bombing, today's planned prisoner exchange with Hizbullah should be stopped. Eldad said the government should check if the bombing was a "surprise" delivered by Hizbullah. Government officials said, however, that the prisoner exchange would proceed as planned.
"There is no connection between this bombing and the prisoner exchange," Sharon's senior adviser Dore Gold told Reuters.
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