By Amos Harel, Jonathan Lis and Arnon Regular, Haaretz Correspondents, Haaretz Service and Agencies At least 21 people were killed, including several children, and dozens were wounded in a suicide bombing Tuesday night on a bus in downtown Jerusalem. The explosion occured at around 9 P.M. in the Shmuel Hanavi neighborhood of the capital, close to French Hill. The Magen David Adom rescue service said that at least 105 people were wounded. Of the injured, 13 are in serious condition, 13 sustained moderate-to-serious wounds and the rest were lightly injured. The United States condemned the attack, and urged the Palestinians to dismantle the terrorist organizations.
„We condemn this act of terrorism in the strongest possible terms,” White House spokesman Sean McCormack said. „Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims and the victims.” Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, who was meeting with Islamic Jihad representatives at the time of the blast, also condemned the attack. „We strongly condemn the attack and we are completely against putting the lives of civilians into danger,” said Palestinian Minister of Information Nabil Amr. He said the timing of the suicide bombing attack was very critical, coming at a time that efforts were being exerted to save the hudna. A short time after the explosion, the Hezbollah-run television station Al-Manar and several news agencies received phone calls claiming to be from the military wing of Islamic Jihad and taking responsibility for the attack. Soon after, Hamas also said that it was behind the attack. A videotape released by Hamas in Hebron showed a man who named himself as Raed Abdel-Hamid Masq and said he would carry out the suicide bombing to avenge Israel’s killing of one of the group’s members. The defense establishment believes, however, that the attack was a joint effort by both groups. Most of the people on the bus, which was travelling from the Western Wall to the religious neighborhood of Har Nof, were ultra-Orthodox Jews, Channel One Television reported. Police are checking the possibility that the terrorist was disguised as a Haredi Jew, the report said. Reuters journalist Barry Moody said from the scene that two buses were hit by the blast. He said one – on which the suicide bomber is thought to have set off his explosive device – was completely devastated, while the other – travelling behind – had its windows blown out. Police have closed the site off to traffic and have asked the public to keep away from the scene of the blast. Islamic Jihad had vowed revenge for the August 14 killing of its senior official Mohammed Sidr during an IDF attempt to arrest him in the West Bank city of Hebron. This is not the first terror attack on an Israeli target since militant Palestinian groups declared a temporary cease-fire on June 29. On August 12, two Israelis were killed in near-simultaneous suicide attacks, one in the West Bank settlement of Ariel and the other in the town of Rosh Ha’ayin, close to the Green Line. Hamas said it was behind the Ariel attack, saying it was in response to the deaths of three of its activists during an IDF raid in Nablus. The Fatah-linked Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades took responsibility for the Rosh Ha’ayin attack. EMERGENCY NUMBERS: Hadassah, Mount Scopus: 1255121 Bikur Holim Hospital: 1255123 Hadassah, Ein Karem: 1255122 Shaare Zedek: 1255125
