OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, 20 August 2003 — A Palestinian blew up a bus packed with ultra-Orthodox Jews, killing at least 20 people and wounding 80.
Palestinian groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility. Hamas said the attack was a response to “the occupation crimes” of Israel.
“All Palestinian factions, Islamic and national, have said clearly they will answer any crimes or any terrorist activity that have been committed,” Hamas political leader Abdelaziz Rantissi said.
Israel immediately froze talks on handing four West Bank cities to Palestinian control. “The talks are frozen, as is the handover,” an Israeli government source said.
The US-backed road map to Israeli-Palestinian coexistence calls for Israel to withdraw from West Bank cities it reoccupied and for the Palestinian Authority to rein in militants.
The blast went off shortly after 9 p.m. (1800 GMT), as the tandem bus drove along a main thoroughfare in Jerusalem and another bus pulled in front of it, witnesses said.
The tandem bus was headed to an ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighborhood, radio reports said, making it likely that many of the passengers were religious Jews.
The two buses were badly damaged, with windows blown out. Rescuers had to use blow torches to get some of the wounded out. Shocked survivors were led away from the scene. Paramedics treated the wounded on the sidewalk.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmud Abbas condemned the bombing.
