Two suicide bombers detonated nail-studded explosives in a downtown Jerusalem pedestrian mall crowded with young weekend revelers Saturday. The blasts killed the assailants and ten bystanders and wounded 180 people.
Minutes after the back-to-back suicide bombings, another bomb went off in a car parked nearby, sending panicked, screaming pedestrians running in all directions.
Eyewitness Eli Shetreetsaid, he saw bodies being hurled in the air. "A lot of people were crying, falling, and there was the smell of burning hair," said Shetreet, 19.
The attacks-coming after a week in which seven Israelis were killed in other incidents - increased pressure on the Palestinian Authority to take decisive action against militants groups waging a terror campaign against Israel and caused Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to cut short a US visit, according to an aide.
Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said it was "one of the worst (attacks) we have ever seen."
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the militant Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups have threatened to carry out attacks in Israel to avenge the killing of Hamas'military leader in the West Bank in an Israeli missile attack last week.
In a statement, the Palestinian Authority condemned the terror attacks, expressing its "deep anger ... and pain"and accusing those behind it of trying to derail a US peace initiative. The Palestinian Authority has said that in recent days it has arrested several militants.
Israel has charged that Yasser Arafat's government bears responsibility for the attacks against it by doing little to rein in the radicals. Israeli Cabinet minister Dan Meridor said Israel was "tired of words... (Arafat) needs to take action immediately now because this cannot continue."
US envoy Anthony Zinni said in a statement that he had spoken to Arafat and "made absolutely clear that those responsible for planning and carrying out these attacks must be found and brought to justice. This is an urgent task and there can be no delay nor excuses for not acting decisively."
Zinni, a retired Marine Corps general, arrived in Isreal last week, hoping to secure a cease-fire. He has said he would stay in the region as long as it takes.
In a statement issued from his retreat in Camp David, Md., President Bush said he was horrified by the bombings and issued a strong admonition to Arafat to fight terrorism with actions and not just words.
"I strongly condemn them as acts of murder that no person of conscience can tolerate and no cause can ever justify. On behalf of the American people I extend my deepest sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims and my friend Prime Minister Sharon and to all the people of Israel," Bush said.
The bombs went off around 11:30 p.m. Saturday, an hour when the Ben Yehuda mall is usually crowded with young people strolling and sitting at sidewalk cafes. The bombers were standing about 30 yards from each other, police said.
"There were lots of limbs and dead bodies,"said Michael Perry, 37, who ran out of a bar along the pedestrian mall after hearing the explosions. "I saw three dead and what looked like the remains of the suicide bomber. It was just a lump of something,"Perry said.
The blasts were so powerful that they shattered the windows of cars parked a block away. Blood was splattered across store fronts, and bits of flesh and metal bolts from the explosives were strewn on the ground.
Patrons of cafes huddled indoors, behind closed doors. A young man and woman sitting in the corner of one cafe held on to each other. Teen-age girls and boys were screaming and crying into mobile phones, talking to their parents, trying to find their friends in the chaos.
Shortly after the suicide bombings, an explosion went off in a car parked near the mall, said Police Chief Mickey Levy. Apparently no one was hurt in that explosion. At the sound of the third explosion, pedestrians ran up the street in a panic.
Police spokesman Gil Kleiman said eight people were killed and 150 were wounded, many of people in their late teens and 20s. Among the wounded were several in very serious condition.
"This is a great catastrophe. There are many, many casualties," said Health Minister Nissim Dahan, who was touring area hospitals. "We are almost at the limit of our capacity to take in the wounded."
The Ben Yehuda mall is usually packed with young Israelis on Saturday evening. The mall has been the target of suicide attacks in the past, including in 1997.
Just up the block, on the corner of King George and Jaffa streets, a suicide bomber blew himself up last summer in a crowded pizzeria, killing himself and 15 diners.
An Israeli official traveling with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in New York, speaking on condition on anonymity, said Sharon was cutting short his planned five-day visit to the United States. Sharon's meeting with President Bush, which had been planned for Monday, was being rescheduled for Sunday at noon, and the premier would return to Israel immediately after that, the official said.
Fighting that broke out some 14 months ago has killed 781 on the Palestinian side and 213 on the Israeli side.
In recent days Israeli forces surrounded Nablus and Jenin, two of the main autonomous Palestinian towns in the West Bank, in an effort to prevent more attacks.
Abdel Aziz Rantisi, a Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip, did not claim responsibility on behalf of the group, but said Hamas would continue carrying out attacks.
"We have said several times that we are not going to accept the occupation to remain in our land," Rantisi said. "We are fighting Jewish terrorism, we are fighting the killers and defending our freedom, our stability and our dignity."
Earlier Saturday, two Palestinians, ages 11 and 19, were killed near the West Bank town of Jenin in what doctors said was Israeli machine gun fire. The 11-year-old and other youngsters had been throwing stones and a homemade sound bomb at soldiers, witnesses said. The 19-year-old was a passenger in a taxi.
The army said troops returned fire at armed Palestinians, wounding two. Shortly after that, two explosive devices were activated near the troops. The army said it knew nothing about youngsters being in the area.
( December 2, 2001)
