Eight killed in bus ramming

AZUR - A Palestinian rammed a bus into a crowded bus stop used by Israeli soldiers and civilians south of Tel Aviv overnight, killing eight people and injuring at least 10, Israeli police said.

The attack, which left bodies, rubbish and shoes scattered across the pavement, was the bloodiest inside Israel since the start of a Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in late September.

"We are speaking of a serious terrorist attack with a lot of wounded and dead," Tel Aviv police chief Yossi Sitbom said.

Israeli officials said it could be a response to an Israeli helicopter strike that killed a member of Palestinan President Yasser Arafat's elite security force, Masou Ayad, in Gaza yesterday, for which Palestinians vowed revenge.

Violence has worsened after a relative lull since the rightist Ariel Sharon, seen by some Arabs as a war criminal, was elected prime minister last week. Sharon criticised the attack and vowed to provide security when he takes over as premier.

Ahmed Abdel-Rahman, an aide to Arafat, said Israel and outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Barak must take the blame for the attack because "violence only begets violence."

The bus sped off after slamming into the queue near the city of Holon in the morning rush hour. Police gave chase until the vehicle collided with a truck and they fired shots. Police said the driver was seriously wounded.

Bodies covered in blood-soaked blankets and marked with numbers lay on the side of the road at a busy intersection. Scattered pieces of rubbish were around them.

A single boot was left lying on the pavement near the bodies. Ambulance workers escorted away dazed soldiers. Israeli Police Chief Shlomo Aharonishky told Israel Radio the driver was a Palestinian from the Gaza Strip.

"A number of shots were fired, at the moment the bus was stopped. The driver inside the bus apparently was seriously wounded," Aharonishky said. "We understood fairly quickly that apparently we are speaking of an attack."

The bus belonged to the Egged bus company, which confirmed that Palestinians drive such buses.

Almost 400 people have been killed in clashes during the nearly five months of a Palestinian uprising. More than 300 of the deaths have been Palestinians. Sixty-one of those killed were Israelis and 13 were Israeli Arabs.

Separately, Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian policeman as Palestinians tried to clear an Israeli-imposed roadbock at the entrance of the West Bank town of Tulkarm, the town's governor said yesterday.

In Washington, US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher yesterday noted a "serious deterioration" in Israeli-Palestinian violence in the previous 48 hours and said Washington was watching the situation closely.

Senior Israelis close to Sharon said after meetings in Washington yesterday that the US agreed with them that peace talks with the Palestinians can resume only when violence ceases.

Most of the clashes have been in Palestinian areas in the West Bank and Gaza, but there have been several bomb attacks in Israel since late September.

- REUTERS

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