Eight die in Israeli bus bomb blast

At least eight people died and more than two dozen were injured when a bomb blast ripped through a packed bus in northern Israel during the morning rush hour, police sources and doctors said.

The militant group Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement received in Lebanon by Hezbollah's television station, Al-Manar.

The blast occurred at the Meron Junction, which is between the towns of Acre and Tsfat.

The civilian bus was carrying a number of soldiers returning to their bases today, which is the beginning of the work week in Israel, officials said.

A senior police source said eight people, including a number of soldiers, were confirmed dead.

"I picked up four dead myself," Haim Ben-Shimon, a civilian who was nearby at the time of the blast, told Army Radio.

"The bus is simply crushed. It looks as if the explosion happened in the centre of the bus."

Another witness, Pinhas Cohen, said: "A soldier came out with his face and uniform covered with blood, and two Arabs from the nearby restaurant gave him first aid."

Dr Oscar Enbon, director of the Ziv Hospital in Tsfat, said 26 wounded people had reached the hospital, including nine in serious condition. Many were suffering from burns.

Ron Atner, a spokesman for the Egged bus company, said: "On Sunday morning, the passengers are regulars. Unfortunately, many of them are soldiers on their way to bases in the north."

Security is very tight in the area, with a number of checkpoints, Atner said, but it appeared likely that the bomber was able to board at one of the many stops the bus made.

Israel said the Palestinian Authority, led by Yasser Arafat, bore ultimate responsibility.

David Baker, an official in the office of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said: "This attack on an Israeli civilian bus is another prime example of how the Palestinian Authority feeds on terror.

"This Palestinian terror must be uprooted and Israel will not relent in its pursuit of, and war against, Palestinian terror."

Palestinian groups have carried out scores of bombing and shooting attacks throughout the 22 months of fighting.

According to Al-Manar television station, Hamas said a suicide bomber detonated the bomb in a second stage of retaliation for the death of Hamas’ military leader, Salah Shehadeh, who was killed along with 14 other people in an Israeli bombing of Gaza last month.

Hamas claimed responsibility for a bombing of Jerusalem’s Hebrew University last Wednesday that killed seven people, five of them Americans.