At least 30 hurt in Jerusalem blast

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Posted 8:25AM on Sunday, January 27, 2002

JERUSALEM - A suicide bomber detonated his explosives in downtown Jerusalem just after midday Sunday, injuring at least 30 people on a busy street that's been the scene of several previous attacks, officials said. Victims were sprawled in the street, shop windows were blown out by the force of the blast and at least one store caught fire on Jaffa Street, a bustling commercial strip running through the western part of the city. The suicide bomber blew himself up next to a shoe shop, prompting paramedics and doctors to rush to the scene. At least 30 people were wounded, ranging from two in serious condition to others suffering from shock, police said. The bomber, whose body parts were scattered on the street, was the only person confirmed dead by Israeli authorities. However, several witnesses said they saw a second dead body in the street. Jaffa Street is lined with shops and its narrow sidewalks clogged with pedestrians, particularly during the middle of the day. The streets were full of people on Sunday, the first day of the work week in Israel. A witness, who gave his name as Avi and said he was a medic, told Israeli radio he rushed to the scene when he heard the blast down the street. ``People were screaming. I found the woman with a cut on her throat. I put a piece of cloth on it, and rushed her to an ambulance. Then I pulled out another young woman who was really buried under a heap of shoe boxes. Her hair was burnt,'' he said. No group immediately claimed responsibility, but Israel said it held Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat ultimately responsible. Arafat is ``encouraging terrorism, he's sending (attackers) to Jerusalem,'' said Raanan Gissin, spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. ``We will continue to systematically dismantle the terrorist infrastructure.'' Last week, a Palestinian gunman went on a shooting spree on Jaffa Street - only a few yards away from the site of Sunday's attack. He killed two women and injured more than a dozen people before being shot dead by police. Also, a suicide bomber in August killed 15 people in a pizzeria just a few steps away from Sunday's blast. Palestinian militants have carried out more than 30 suicide bombings during the current Mideast conflict, now 16 months old. The Palestinian leadership on Saturday called for a halt to all attacks against Israel. However, several Palestinian groups have said recently they no longer would observe a cease-fire declared by Arafat, and violence has been escalating in recent days. The Palestinians say Israel undermined a month of relative calm, from mid-December to mid-January, by resuming targeted killings of Palestinian militants. The Israelis said they acted because Arafat wasn't doing enough to crack down on militants.