TEL AVIV, 6 January 2003 — Two Palestinian bombers blew themselves up in Tel Aviv yesterday, killing at least 22 bystanders and wounding up to 100. Seven of the wounded were in critical condition in intensive care. The bombers set off charges on crowded streets near Tel Aviv’s Old Central Bus Station yesterday, police chief Yossef Sedbon said.

The blasts struck in rapid succession during rush hour on two parallel and adjacent streets in a poor district of the city with a large immigrant population that was hit by a similar bombing in July that left five victims.

Fifteen people were killed in the initial blast, police said, with hospital sources saying seven more succumbed to their injuries in emergency units.

The bodies of the two bombers were destroyed by the powerful explosives they were carrying.

Foreign workers were thought to be among the victims of the attacks, in Nevi Shaanan and Hagadud Haevri streets.

The bombings were claimed by two rival Palestinian groups. One group, Islamic Jihad, said in a telephone call to AFP in the northern West Bank town of Jenin, that it had sent in two bombers. The caller said the group would later issue an official statement.

Later a leader of Islamic Jihad hailed the bombings but stopped short of claiming responsibility.

“So far we have no information to confirm or deny the responsibility of the Jerusalem Brigades (Islamic Jihad’s armed wing) for this operation,” Ramadan Shallah told the Qatar-based satellite television Al-Jazeera. Shortly afterward, an anonymous caller claiming to represent the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, telephoned AFP in Jerusalem and claimed the attack.

“We declare responsibility for the attack in Tel Aviv,” said the caller, speaking in English. “We promise the Israeli occupation army more attacks in the next month.”

An Israeli government spokesman said the bombings were an attempt by “terrorist organizations” to wreak havoc before Israel’s Jan. 28 general elections and an anticipated US-led attack on Iraq.

“This is a particularly horrendous attack as it is a double bombing coming in a very crowded place at a peak time of day. Therefore there are many victims.” Lax security in the area has been criticized following previous attacks there.

Police used the broadcast media to call on immigrants in English and Hebrew to come forward to aid the investigation into the attack.

They said illegal immigrants should not be afraid to visit hospitals and the scene of the attack, adding that the immigration police would not be working in the area. The entire southern area of the city has been closed off by police. Yesterday’s attack was the first in an Israeli city since Nov. 21, when a bomber blew up a bus in Jerusalem, killing himself and 11 passengers.

US President George W. Bush condemned the bombings as a “brutal act of terror,” the White House said.

President Yasser Arafat’s Palestinian Authority also condemned the bombings. “The Palestinian leadership, which condemns firmly and stands with all determination against crimes conducted against Palestinian civilians...announces its total condemnation of these terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians,” it said. “It rejects the idea of revenge with which some are trying to justify these attacks against Israeli civilians,” it added in a statement.

“It announces its determination to confront firmly...the perpetrators of these attacks, the planners and whoever stood behind them.” The Authority also called for the international community to intervene to let Palestinian security forces take action.

In Cairo, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher said the double bombing in Tel Aviv yesterday was the result of Israel’s abuses against the Palestinians.

He was speaking to reporters after a meeting here with the head of Israel’s Meretz left-wing opposition party, Yossi Sarid, and former Israeli Justice Minister Yossi Beilin. “The Israelis should understand that the continuation of abuses fuels violence and the continuation of operations such as the one today,” Maher said. “Egypt condemns all attacks on civilians, whether they are Palestinians — which is most often the case — or Israeli civilians,” he added. (The Independent)