Suicide Bomber Blows Up Bus; 8 Palestinians Killed in Gaza Clash

A powerful explosion ripped through a bus in the heart of Jerusalem at the height of rush hour this morning, and preliminary reports said at least eight people were killed and dozens injured.

The explosion, just before 9 a.m., took place in a leafy, upscale neighborhood, less than a quarter-mile from Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s official residence. Authorities said the attack had been carried out by a suicide bomber.

The force of the blast blew out the bus windows and peeled back its green-and-white sides, leaving the rows of seats exposed. Rescuers quickly cordoned off the scene as they gathered up the dead and injured. A scorched smell hung in the morning air.

Behind police barriers, an anxious crowd gathered as people sought news of loved ones who had been aboard.

The bombing occurred just 24 hours after Israeli troops backed by tanks and armor fought a pitched battle with Palestinian militants on the outskirts of Gaza City, drawing vows of revenge from militant groups.

Eight Palestinians, at least four of them gunmen, were killed in the fighting, hospital officials and the Israeli military said. Palestinian hospital officials said at least five bystanders were wounded, including two teenagers and a medic.

No Israeli casualties were reported in the four-hour firefight, the deadliest such engagement in months in the Gaza Strip, which came as American mediators visiting the region sought to revive the long-dormant U.S.-backed peace plan.

The fight illustrated the complications faced by the Israeli military as it attempts to subdue Palestinian militants in the densely populated Gaza Strip. When such battles intrude into tightly packed urban areas -- either cities or refugee camps -- the chances of civilians being hurt or killed rise dramatically.

Both Arab and Israeli TV repeatedly showed footage of a terrified-looking Palestinian boy who appeared to be about 10 years old, pinned down by cross-fire as he huddled near a shed. He apparently emerged uninjured.

The Israeli army said the fighting broke out early Wednesday when it moved against Palestinian militants who were launching attacks at Jewish settlements in Gaza, including the most isolated of them, Netzarim.

“Gunmen from [the Palestinian militant groups] Hamas and Islamic Jihad were terrorizing settlements in the area,” said Maj. Sharon Feingold, a military spokeswoman. “Basically, we were operating against cells of those launching mortars aimed at Netzarim.”

Netzarim and two other difficult-to-defend Gaza settlements were named this week by settler leaders who said Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had approached them about dismantling some small Jewish communities in Gaza and the West Bank in exchange for reassurances that other, larger ones would be left intact until a final peace agreement with the Palestinians.

Sharon’s office denied any such overture had been made.

Feingold said army troops came under “massive fire” Wednesday morning from Palestinian gunmen outside Netzarim, and responded by chasing them into an industrial zone on the outskirts of Gaza City, in a neighborhood called Zeitoun. The area is known as a stronghold of both Islamic Jihad and Hamas.

Palestinians said an ambulance was fired on by Israeli troops during the fighting, but Feingold denied that Israeli troops deliberately took aim at it.

“There was an ambulance that arrived without its presence being coordinated -- we quickly checked it and let it pass,” she said. “In exchanges of fire, we understand it was hit, but it was not targeted.... We don’t target ambulances.”

The Israeli commander of the battalion operating in the area, identified only as Lt. Col. Udi, told Israel Radio that troops had been facing threats from Palestinian militants including homemade bombs and antitank missiles.

“Our goal is to restrict the movement of these terrorists and target the ones who threaten our security,” he said.

Palestinians living in the area told of being terrorized by what seemed to be indiscriminate fire from Israeli heavy weapons at an hour when many were headed to work.

“When I saw the tanks approaching, I ran away, but I couldn’t run fast enough,” said Mohammed Arafat, a 32-year-old laborer in a tile factory. “I found myself facing a tank, so I crawled on the ground until I got away.”

He said he saw at least one man lying on the ground, badly injured and unaided, and the body of another Palestinian man nearby. Bloodstains and bloody footprints were visible in the neighborhood’s sandy streets.

Israel blamed the Palestinian armed groups for operating in an area filled with civilians, but a masked militant prowling there soon after the attack refused to accept any responsibility for civilian injuries or deaths, saying the struggle against Israeli occupation would continue.

Hours after the outbreak of fighting, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ahmed Korei received a pair of U.S. envoys.

The Palestinians hoped that the American presence would help build impetus for a first official meeting between Korei, whose government was sworn in in November, and Sharon.

Korei told reporters in the West Bank town of Ramallah that he stood ready for a meeting with Sharon -- provided there were “good indications for our people.”