ISRAEL/JERUSALEM/GAZA: FIRST PALESTINIAN SUICIDE BOMBING IN TWO MONTHS RIPS APART A CROWDED BUS IN HAIFA KILLING 10 PEOPLE

Record ID: 645791

  • Title: ISRAEL/JERUSALEM/GAZA: FIRST PALESTINIAN SUICIDE BOMBING IN TWO MONTHS RIPS APART A CROWDED BUS IN HAIFA KILLING 10 PEOPLE
  • Date: 5th March 2003
  • Summary: (W5) HAIFA, ISRAEL (MARCH 5, 2003) (REUTERS) LV OF BUS / PAN TO BODIES IN BODY BAGS / PAN TO OFFICIAL GIVING INSTRUCTIONS SLV POLICE SNIPER ON ROOF CU BLOOD ON STAIRS / PAN TO A DISCARDED JACKET SLV BODY IN BODY BAG BEING CARRIED PAN TO AMRAM MITZNA, MAYOR OF HAIFA AND HEAD OF THE LABOUR PARTY, TALKING TO POLICE SLV BODY BEING CARRIED TO AMBULANCE / PAN TO BUS LV HELICOPTER FLYING OVERHEAD (U4) JERUSALEM (MARCH 5, 2003) (REUTERS) MCU (English) RAANAN GISSIN, SPOKESMAN FOR ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER ARIEL SHARON SAYING: "Our main responsibility is to protect the life of our citizens and I would say that the rest of the world, instead of trying to rebuke Israel for taking actions of self-defence should put major pressure on those who instigate terrorist activity, those who are trying to use a terrorist campaign, not just against Israel but against Western civilisation, and this attack perhaps will signify more attacks, not just in Israel, but against U.S., British, and other targets in the west. I think it's about time that the world awakens to the real threat of terrorism as we've experienced in the last 28 months." (U4) GAZA (MARCH 5, 2003) (REUTERS) SV HAMAS SPOKESMAN MAHMOUD A-ZAHAR WALKS TO CAMERA MCU (English) HAMAS SPOKESMAN MAHMOUD A-ZAHAR: "Regardless of who is behind that, this is in favour of the Palestinian constitution, this is serving the Palestinian goal, this is actually raising the spiritual level of every Arab, every Muslim, every Palestinian here. This is a clear message for the new government, that Israeli aggression will be balanced by a willed, effective resistance from the Palestinian side, especially from Hamas."
  • Embargoed: 20th March 2003 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: HAIFA, ISRAEL/JERUSALEM / GAZA
  • City:
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Topics: Crime,General,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAC4WB1K0N9O7AWZ0IKGZJ2PZFN
  • Story Text: The first Palestinian suicide bombing in two months ripped apart a crowded bus in the Israeli port city of Haifa on Wednesday, killing at least 10 people and injuring about
    The bomb ripped the roof off the municipal bus and set it ablaze in a busy street as it left a station. Bodies were thrown across the street.
    There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Wednesday's (March 5) attack, the first in Israel since 23 people were killed in twin suicide bombings in Tel Aviv on January 5.
    Police and medical workers said 10 people were killed. The toll appeared not to include the suicide bomber.
    The explosion dealt another blow to U.S. hopes of calm in the region as it prepares for a possible war in Iraq.
    Earlier on Wednesday, Israeli troops arrested 20 Palestinians throughout the West Bank and demolished the home of an Islamic militant in a continued security clampdown.
    The fresh sweep followed a day of clashes in which three Palestinians were killed. Israel drew criticism from the United States and Britain over Palestinian civilian casualties.
    The army said soldiers arrested 20 Palestinians, most of them wanted by security forces for alleged violence.
    Palestinian witnesses said troops entered the West Bank cities of Qalqilya and Jericho, as well as villages outside of Bethlehem, to make the arrests.
    Israel has reoccupied every West Bank city except for Jericho since a wave of Palestinian bombings last summer.
    Israel drew rare U.S. criticism for an army raid in the Gaza Strip which killed eight Palestinians on Monday, including a pregnant woman crushed under the rubble of her home after troops blew up a nearby house belonging to a militant's family.
    But Raanan Gissin, spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, was unrepentant. He told Reuters: "Our main responsibility is to protect the life of our citizens and I would say that the rest of the world, instead of trying to rebuke Israel for taking actions of self-defence should put major pressure on those who instigate terrorist activity, those who are trying to use a terrorist campaign, not just against Israel but against Western civilisation."
    Hamas spokesman Mahmoud A-Zahar praised the Haifa bombers as "martyrs" and hinted that more attacks were likely. He said: "Regardless of who is behind that, this is in favour of the Palestinian constitution, this is serving the Palestinian goal, this is actually raising the spiritual level of every Arab, every Muslim, every Palestinian here. This is a clear message for the new government, that Israeli aggression will be balanced by a willed, effective resistance from the Palestinian side, especially from Hamas."
    At least 1,891 Palestinians and 706 Israelis have been killed since the revolt began in September 2000 after peace talks on a Palestinian state froze.
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