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Medics help a victim of the blast. (AP)
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| By Israel Insider staff and partners January 19, 2006 |
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| AP |
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A suicide bomber blew himself up inside a shwarma shop in the area of the old central bus station on Thursday at approximately 3:50 p.m. At least 20 people were wounded: one is in serious condition, four suffered moderate wounds and the rest were lightly injured. No fatalities have been reported. Ambulances raced to the scene.
A witness, who identified himself only as Itzkik, said he was eating at a fast-food stand when he began suspecting the man standing next to him.
"All of a sudden a policeman came, he pulled him (the suspect) out, and started searching him," he told Israel Radio. The suspect fled, Itzik said, and five minutes later the explosion was heard. Initial reports say that the suspect entered another shwarma stand selling razor blades. He then went to the washroom and after returning to the front of the shop, he detonated his explosives. None of the 10 customers and employees inside the shop were seriously hurt. The more serious injuries were apparently outside.
Israel radio reported the bomber was carrying a heavy pack on his back.
Islamic Jihad took credit for the attack. Palestinian sources in the West Bank city of Nablus identified the bomber as Sami Antar, 20, a resident of the Balata refugee camp.
Nablus area was the setting for the movie "Paradise Now," which won a Golden Globe award earlier this week.
Despite Islamic Jihad's claim of responsibility for the bombing, the attack was possibly the initiative of a Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades branch operating in the Balata refugee camp adjacent to Nablus, Haaretz reported.
The blast came just a week before Palestinian parliament elections, and two weeks after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a devastating stroke. Handling the aftermath of the bombing, and deciding on a possible Israeli response will be a key test for Sharon's stand-in, acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
The old central bus station is in a working class neighborhood, where many foreign workers live.
Blood, shattered glass and debris covered the ground near shops. The windows of a parked car near the blast were blown out, and helmeted security forces cordoned off the area.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility by Palestinian terrorists, but the Islamic Jihad terrorist group has claimed responsibility for other recent suicide bombings in Israel.
It was the sixth suicide bombing in Israel since a truce took effect last February. On Dec. 5, a bomber detonated explosives outside a shopping mall in the Israeli coastal town of Netanya, killing five Israelis.
The old bus station has been targeted before. In January 2003, 23 people were killed and about 120 wounded in a double suicide bombing in the area.
The AP contributed to this report.
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