At least 19 people were killed, including five or six infants, and scores injured in an explosion at a busy pizzeria in central Jerusalem on Thursday, medical and police sources said.
The Palestinian group Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the explosion in a suicide bomb attack, which authorities said injured 70 people, many severely.
"The Jerusalem Brigades -- the military wing of Islamic Jihad of Palestine -- declares its responsibility for the heroic martyrdom operation in Jerusalem today at about 12:00 noon. The operation was carried out by Hussein Omar Abu Naaseh, 23," a statement faxed to Reuters news agency in Beirut said.
Israeli and Palestinian officials each blamed the other for the attack, which injured more than 70 people -- at least 13 seriously -- and for the continuation of violence that has unsettled the area for the past 11 months.
"We see (Palestinian Authority President Yasser) Arafat and the Palestinian Authority responsible for this terrible attack in Jerusalem today," Israeli Cabinet minister Danny Naveh told CNN. "Arafat is the one that gave the green light to Islamic Jihad to commit such bombings. He has released from jail terrorists with blood on their hands."
Naveh said that Israel would respond to the blast, as they have in the past when attacks have struck at Israeli civilians.
"Our only target is to prevent further terrible attacks," he said. "We will do whatever we can in order to stop terrorists from coming into our towns."
The Palestinians, however, blamed Israel for the continuation of violence in the region, saying their policies provoke the Palestinians, and that Palestinian officials cannot control the violence.
"It seems to me as usual they are looking at the wrong address," said Palestinian legislator Hanan Ashwari. "They should look closer at home. I don't think the (Israeli Prime Minister Ariel) Sharon policy of attempting to besiege a whole people ... is a policy of utmost responsibility."
Palestinians say that Israel's presence in the West Bank and Gaza -- and the policy of "targeted killings" of Palestinians that the Israelis identify as militants -- has fragmented Palestinian territories, making it impossible for them to maintain security.
"You cannot bomb a whole people into submission," Ashwari said. "There has to be a level-headed approach to the causes of the violence, and the causes can be traced straight back to the occupation."
'Absolute shambles'
Thursday's blast rocked the Sbarro restaurant -- at the intersection of King Georges Street and the Jaffa Road, a major artery going into central Jerusalem -- during the busy lunch hour.
The scene outside Sbarro restaurant in downtown Jerusalem on Thursday after a lunch-hour explosion
Television pictures from the scene showed a scene of devastation, panic and chaos. A woman covered with blood held a cloth to her face as she stood in front of the restaurant. Other injured people lay bleeding on the street; others were led away screaming as the severely injured were being loaded into the back of ambulances and carried away on stretchers.
In the aftermath of the explosion, ambulances, fire engines and police vehicles converged on the area around the pizzeria, cordoning off the streets.
The inside of the restaurant was destroyed, with broken plaster, fixtures, and furniture.
"All the windows have been blown out, absolute shambles inside this restaurant," CNN's Jerrold Kessel said from the scene.
Thursday's bombing was the first suicide attack against civilians in an Israeli city since a June 1 suicide bomber killed 21 people at a Tel Aviv disco.
That bombing led to a cease-fire between the Israelis and Palestinians, which went into effect on June 13. But violence in the the region has continued virtually unabated regardless of the ceasefire. |
