Israel suicide bomber targets bus station

A suicide bomber blew himself up outside the central bus station in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba today, wounding at least 10 people, two critically, in the first such attack since Israel began its withdrawal from the Gaza Strip this month.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Various Palestinian militant groups had threatened attacks to avenge an Israeli raid in the West Bank last week that killed five Palestinians.

The attack occurred in a car park outside the station, which was crowded with morning rush-hour travellers. Witnesses said two security guards halted the bomber, preventing a much larger attack.

“I was suspicious of him, he had a large back pack and a plastic bag in his hand,” a witness who identified himself as a bus driver named Rami told Israel Radio.

“I pointed him out to the guard. He was about 20 meters (yards) from the bus when he blew up. It was a huge explosion, very big,” he said.

Rescue workers said the wounded were all taken to a hospital in the city.

Yehuda Shoshan, a paramedic, said the two security guards were critically wounded. “They were suffering from shrapnel wounds and burns all over their bodies,” he told Channel 10 TV.

At the scene of the attack, the body of the bomber, ripped to pieces by the explosion, lay in the dirt covered by strips of plastic.

Nearby, a grey car was splattered with blood and its windows blown out by the force of the blast. A bus also had its windows shattered, the side of the bus pockmarked with shrapnel.

The bombing was the third since Israel and the Palestinians declared a cease-fire in February, and rattled efforts to use the Gaza withdrawal as a springboard to resuming peace talks.

“Israel has taken the necessary steps to further the prospects of peace with the Palestinians,” said David Baker, an official in the office of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. “This bombing … is another indication that the Palestinian Authority must take proper steps against terror, and without these steps, there will be no progress between both sides.”

Israeli authorities suspected the attacker came from the Hebron area in the southern West Bank.

Construction of Israel’s massive West Bank separation barrier hasn’t been completed in that area, enabling militants to infiltrate southern Israel relatively easily. Two suicide bombers from Hebron struck Beersheba in August 2004, killing 16 people, prompting Israel to speed up construction in the area.

There has been a lull in violence since the cease-fire declaration last February, but sporadic fighting has persisted. Israel has accused the Palestinians of failing to take tough enough action against militants during the quiet, while Palestinian militants accuse Israel of violating the truce through continued arrest raids.