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Suicide attacks kill 10 Israelis
©Washington Post JERUSALEM -- A pair of Palestinian suicide bombers carried out a synchronized attack in the heart of Jerusalem late Saturday, killing at least 10 other people and injuring more than 100 mostly teenage revelers. About 20 minutes later, a car bomb was detonated a block away, injuring another dozen people as ambulances and police cars continued to arrive on the scene. Police said the car bomb had apparently been left by the bombers. The attack was one of the most devastating in the past 14 months of violence here, targeting one of the busiest intersections in the city -- and one of the most heavily policed -- at its busiest time of the week. Hundreds of Israeli youngsters, and some Jewish Americans, had converged on Zion Square Saturday night as they do almost every Saturday night after the end of the Jewish Sabbath. They were milling around coffee shops, bagel shops and snack bars when the suicide bombers struck, perhaps 50 yards and seconds apart. In a flash, a rowdy tableau of flirting, chatting and skateboarding teenagers was transformed into a bloodbath. The bombers' explosives, packed with nails and screws, were designed to inflict the maximum possible damage, according to Israeli police. "People were screaming, they were running and falling and crying," said Etti Cohen, 20, an offduty soldier. "It happened so fast. One minute people were just hanging out, some religious people were paying religious music. Then all of a sudden, boom!" Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was reportedly planning to cut short a visit to the United States, meeting with President Bush at the White House today instead of Monday, so that he could return home sooner. Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, who is acting prime minister in Sharon's absence, said: "This is a terrible attack. This attacks the heart of the people." The bombings coincided with the arrival of the Bush administration's new Middle East envoy, retired Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni, who is leading Washington's first major drive for peace here in months. On Friday, Zinni condemned the week's previous attacks inside Israel, which he said were aimed at wrecking his mission. About 170 people were wounded in the blasts and at least 11 were said to be in critical condition, suggesting the death toll might rise. Even if it does not, the attack is one of the bloodiest in months, and ranks with two previous suicide bombings, in Tel Aviv and in Jerusalem, as the worst since the Palestinian uprising began in September 2000. It was the third major terrorist attack by Palestinians inside Israel in the past week, including a bus bombing Thursday and a shooting Tuesday, both in northern Israel. Together with Saturday's bombing, at least 15 Israelis have been killed in the attacks, in addition to the Palestinian assailants. The latest attacks followed Israel's assassination of a top commander from the radical Islamic group Hamas, which vowed to take revenge inside Israel. No Palestinian group took responsibility for Saturday's bombings, but Israeli officials said they appeared to be the work of militant Islamic Resistance Movement, or Hamas, which has carried out many such attacks. In Gaza City, Abdel Azziz Rantissi, a senior spokesman for Hamas, said: "As you know, we are under (Israeli) occupation, the worst kind of occupation and slavery. The Jews are terrorists, the Jews are killing our children, we are in confrontation with the terrorism of the Jews, so we are defending ourselves." Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority condemned the attack, saying it was designed to torpedo Zinni's mission. "The Palestinian Authority forcefully condemns the attacks that were carried out tonight in Jerusalem," it said. "The goal of these attacks has been to destroy the American peace efforts. These attacks cause great damage to our people in international public opinion and the Palestinian Authority will do everything in its power to catch those responsible. It pays its condolences to the Israeli people." In a statement, Zinni said he had spoken with Arafat and "made absolutely clear that those responsible for carrying out this attack must be found and brought to justice." He added: "This is an urgent task and there can be no delay nor excuses for not acting right away. These despicable actions can only be prevented if the Palestinians act in a comprehensive and sustained manner to root out terrorists and bring them to justice." Israeli Defence Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer convened top security and army officials to consider Israel's response. Most past attacks have elicited tough military reprisals. Anticipating Israeli counterattack, Palestinian security officials ordered the evacuation of offices, police posts and other positions in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. For hours after the blasts, stunned, weeping and angry Israelis wandered through downtown Jerusalem, herded this way and that by police concerned about the possibility of further bombs. Many pedestrians were trying to call their friends and relatives, to make sure they were still alive, but cell phone networks were crashing and difficult to use. "I heard a sound like a firecracker, a sputtering, then there was a big boom," said Nir Ladeni, who is in his 20s. "Then like two seconds later I heard another like that, boom, boom." A security guard from a nearby hospital, Bikur Holim, who identified himself as Sami, said he had rushed to Zion Square just minutes after the explosions. "I saw body parts," he said, still shaking 40 minutes later. "It smelled like everything was burning. I held one teenaged guy whose body was torn to apart. He was just a boy, maybe 18, and he was missing one of his arms." As flames shot 15 feet in the air from the car bomb, scores of people raced through the streets, screaming and holding their heads. But there was also a concerted attempt to rescue and treat the wounded even in the few minutes before the ambulances arrived. Young men ripped up their shirts to fashion tourniquets for wounds. One bar owner said he made a tourniquet from the tape of a video cassette. Special Jewish religious volunteers scoured the scene for every scrap of flesh, as is required for a proper Jewish burial. "This is a great catastrophe. There are many, many casualties," said Health Minister Nissim Dahan, who was touring hospitals. "We are almost at the limit of our capacity to take in the wounded." Just up the block, on the corner of King George and Jaffa streets, a suicide bomber blew himself up last summer in a crowded pizzeria, killing himself and 15 diners. In a statement issued from Camp David, Md., President Bush said he was horrified by the bombings and issued a strong admonition to Arafat to fight terrorism with actions and not just words. "I strongly condemn them as acts of murder that no person of conscience can tolerate and no cause can ever justify. On behalf of the American people I extend my deepest sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims and my friend Prime Minister Sharon and to all the people of Israel," Bush said. Since the latest surge of fighting began 14 months ago, 781 people on the Palestinian side and 213 on the Israeli side have been killed. -- Information from the Associated Press and New York Times was used in this report.
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