- Title: VARIOUS: PALESTINIAN SUICIDE BOMBING CLAIMS 17 LIVES
- Date: 19th June 2002
- Summary: (W3) JERUSALEM (JUNE 18, 2002) (REUTERS) SLV SCENE OF SUICIDE BOMBING / RESCUE WORKER ATTENDING TO BUS DRIVER SLUMPED IN HIS SEAT; MORE OF THE SCENE / RESCUE WORKERS (3 SHOTS) (U5) GAZA (JUNE 18, 2002) (REUTERS) SLV HAMAS SPIRITUAL LEADER SHEIKH YASSIN SEATED (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SHEIKH YASSIN, SAYING "We stress again that the resistance will continue to protect ourselves. This attack comes to say that the resistance will continue until the defeat of the occupation because the Israeli enemy is using all means of aggression against our people"
- Embargoed: 4th July 2002 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: JERUSALEM / GAZA / AL-RAFAH REFUGEE CAMP, NEAR NABLUS, WEST BANK
- City:
- Country: Palestinian Territories
- Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
- Reuters ID: LVAC2H53WV6G2M1QZTA52APO8Y1F
- Story Text: A Palestinian suicide bomber has killed 17 people on board a bus in Jerusalem The bomber apparently blew himself up at the front of bus number 32 when it was filled with people heading to schools and offices on Tuesday (June 18, 2002) morning.
Israeli radio stations reported 17 dead in the bombing, which was so powerful that it lifted the bus off the ground and sent smoke billowing through the area.
Bodies could be seen lying in the mangled skeleton of the bus and on the ground. Ambulances rushed the wounded to local hospitals as police sappers checked for more bombs.
Lines of body bags, some with the feet of victims still sticking out, were laid out by the wreckage of the bus.
Police had been on heightened alert because of intelligence reports they said pointed to a suicide bomber in the area.
A leader of the Islamic militant group Hamas, Mahmoud Zahar, said the latest attack showed that Palestinians were determined to fight Israeli occupation regardless of the army's regular incursions into Palestinian towns in the West Bank to flush out militants.
The militant Islamic Hamas group claimed responsibility for the bombing, the latest in a string of suicide attacks against Israelis since a Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation began in September 2000 after peace talks deadlocked. There has been a renewed wave of Palestinian suicide bombings since the beginning of the month.
Hamas leaders said the latest attack showed that Palestinians were determined to fight Israeli occupation regardless of the army's regular incursions into Palestinian towns in the West Bank to flush out militants.
"We stress again that the resistance will continue to protect ourselves", said Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Yassin.
"This attack comes to say that the resistance will continue until the defeat of the occupation because the Israeli enemy is using all means of aggression against our people".
Hours after the attack amateur video was released of the suicide bomber swearing allegiance to the Intifada and Islam before going off to carry out his mission.
Mohammed al-Ghoul was a student of Islamic studies at al-Najah University in the West Bank city of Nablus. He had apparently disappeared about three days ago.
In the al-Rafah refugee camp, near the West Bank city of Nablus, Mohammed's parents were surrounded by well wishers who came to pay tribute to their son.
"It's because of the pressure", said Mohammed's father Hazaa. "Everyone is upset with this kind of life -- old and young people. Every day they (the Israelis) enter our cities, they kill and they leave and no one says anything"
In Jerusalem, the E.U. envoy to the region Miguel Moratinos laid flowers at the site of the bombing, right-wing Israelis shouted him down saying that he was anti-Semitic and siding with the Palestinians. They called on him to return home.
Meanwhile, Israelis gathered to pay their respects to the bus driver, the first victim of Tuesday's attack to be buried.
"Daddy, daddy", wailed his fourteen-year-old son as mourners tried to comfort him.
The latest bombing took place in the midst of growing controversy over an Israeli project launched on Sunday to erect a 70-mile (110-km) barrier straddling the border with the West Bank.
In the West Bank city of Ramallah, Palestinians started to prepare for a possible Israeli incursion to their city, following the bombing. But it was the city of Jenin which was the first point of entry for the Israeli army, they entered the West Bank city at just after 1900GMT on Tuesday night.
"I bought bread, the minute I knew that there was an attack I brought bread and got ready in case of incursion that we will manage," said Firas Shuboh out on the streets of Ramallah during the afternoon.
"Yes, we bought everything, we bought food supplies, we are expecting for the incursion to last for a long time," said Suheir al-Araj of the expected occupation.
On the way out of the West Bank in the late afternoon were a group of Europeans who have chosen to stay in the region up to this point.
"We were asked to stop our classes this afternoon because all the foreigners were told to leave Ramallah because everybody is expecting a new occupation. Well now I am trying to get through to Jerusalem," said a professor from the Bir-Zeit University.
"Just now I am just trying to get out of Ramallah and into Jerusalem," said a student fearing an incursion.
At least 1,403 Palestinians and 530 Israelis have been killed since the Palestinian revolt began in September 2000. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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