Double suicide bombing kills 15 in Israel

Two Palestinian suicide bombings – one at a bus stop crowded with soldiers near Tel Aviv, the second five hours later at a popular Jerusalem nightspot - killed at least 15 Israelis and maimed dozens as the region grappled with a new wave of savage bloodletting.

There were no claims of responsibility, but the Islamic militant group Hamas, which has carried out most of the 100 or so suicide bombings against Israelis over the last three years, had been expected to avenge Israel’s attempt on the life of its spiritual leader on Saturday.

The two bombers were Hamas activists from Rantis village west of Ramallah in the West Bank, Israel Radio reported. It appears that the bombings were co-ordinated between the two men, who studied together at Bir Zeit University in Ramallah, the radio added.

In one Gaza neighbourhood, Palestinians fired assault rifles in the air and about 100 took to the streets in celebration after the attack on the Hillel Café. In the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, some Hamas supporters celebrated by distributing candies to the families of those killed in previous violence.

Israel’s military has relentlessly targeted Hamas militants since the group claimed a suicide bombing last month that killed 22 people on a Jerusalem bus. Earlier yesterday, Israeli troops in Hebron killed two Hamas members – including the group’s leader in the West Bank city – and a 12-year-old bystander, and blew up a seven-storey apartment building where the militants were hiding out.

The day’s violence underscored the collapse of US-backed peace efforts and came amid political uncertainty after the resignation of Palestinian prime minister Mahmoud Abbas.

An increasing number of Israeli officials were calling for the expulsion of Yasser Arafat, and expectations were mounting that Israel will step up military strikes and possibly invade the Gaza Strip – which Israel has not yet reoccupied - to root out the Hamas leadership.

Security was extremely tight throughout the country, especially in Jerusalem, in anticipation of a Hamas attack.

The first bombing came at about 6pm as soldiers were waiting for rides home outside the Tsrifin army base near the Tel Aviv suburb of Rishon Letzion.

Cpl Eyal Schneider, 20, was walking toward the bus stop when he heard the explosion and saw a fireball. “People were running from the bus stop shouting, ‘Bomb! Bomb!’,” he said.

Ambulances from nearby Assaf Harofeh hospital quickly lined up at the scene, rescue workers rushing to aid screaming victims.

“I saw the bodies, the body parts strewn around, heard the screams, and tried to help,” said one witness, who gave his name only as Roy.

Police and hospital officials said eight were killed in addition to the bomber. Fifteen people were being treated at the hospital, all but one of them soldiers, spokeswoman Nurit Nehemia said. Others were treated for minor injuries and released. Hours later, the aluminium walls of the bus shelter remained splattered with blood.

Leaders of Hamas praised the attacks but stopped short of claiming responsibility. “This operation, whoever is behind it, is a natural reaction for the bloody aggression against our people,” said Hamas spokesman Abdel Aziz Rantisi, who survived an Israeli attempt on his life in June.

Israeli government spokesman Avi Pazner said “the responsibility is shared between the organisation that carried out the atrocity and the Palestinian Authority that did nothing to prevent it, and Israel will react accordingly.”

More than five hours later, about 11.20pm, another suicide bomber entered the Hillel Café, a popular bistro in the posh German colony neighbourhood of Jerusalem.

Police said the bomber managed to get into the café even though two security guards were posted at the entrance – one inside the door and one outside. Jerusalem police commander Mickey Levy told Israel Radio that one of the guards saw the bomber and tried to stop him, and that he then set off the bomb.

The death toll in the Jerusalem bombing rose to seven early today when one of the wounded died in hospital, Israeli media reported.

“I have a store next to the café. I arrived just a few moments after the blast. I saw things that just can’t be described, there are no words,” said a witness who identified himself only as Shavi.

The blast set off the siren alarms of dozens of parked cars nearby. Police were breaking windows of cars to check if they contain bombs as rescue workers led the wounded away on stretchers. A dazed, wounded man sat on the street, holding a bloody T-shirt to his head.

The attacks came as prime minister Ariel Sharon was away on a visit to India aimed at cementing the two countries’ strategically important relations. Sharon spokesman Raanan Gissin said from New Delhi that the prime minister would cut his trip short by half a day and return to Israel early tomorrow.

“It makes no difference which of these terrorist organisations claim responsibility or whether it’s a joint responsibility by several organisations,” Gissin said. ”We are in an ongoing fight against terrorism. The Palestinian Authority is not discharging its responsibility.”

White House spokesman Scott McClellan, speaking outside a fund raising event for US president George Bush in Florida, called the bombings “vicious attacks”.

McClellan said Bush remained committed to the “road map” peace plan, but he said the bombings “underscore the need to fight terrorism and the need to dismantle terrorist organisations and groups like Hamas”.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher emphasised ”the urgency with which the Palestinian Authority needs to take immediate and effective steps to dismantle and disarm the terrorist capabilities”.

Abbas, the outgoing Palestinian premier, refused to do this by force, appealing to the militants to voluntarily lay down their arms. Abbas resigned on Saturday, frustrated with four months in office in which he repeatedly wrangled with Arafat and failed to persuade Israel to ease security measures imposed on Palestinians.

Ahmed Qureia, whom Arafat has asked to become the new Palestinian prime minister, expressed “our regrets and pain for the innocent lives as a result of violence and counter-violence” and called on Israeli leaders to ”search for ways to end this killing”.

Qureia – a former top peace negotiator – has sought guarantees that if he accepts the post, Israel would do more to implement its obligations under the “road map.” Israel has not frozen settlement-building or withdrawn from most Palestinian towns, saying the Palestinians must first dismantle militant groups as called for by the plan.

An unnamed senior Israeli official said Qureia’s terms were not acceptable.

“We will judge any Palestinian prime minister by his actions,” foreign minister Silvan Shalom said in a statement. “He will have to decide whether he stands with Arafat or whether he stands against terrorism.”

Qureia said he would “not be under an Israeli dictate” but repeated that the Palestinians were “committed to the road map” – a blueprint for ending violence and establishing a Palestinian state by 2005.

He and other Palestinian leaders accuse the Israelis of making the situation worse by carrying out a series of air strikes against Hamas militants following last month’s suicide bombing aboard a Jerusalem bus. Those strikes have killed 12 Hamas members and five bystanders.