Rush Hour Bus Explosion Kills 7 in Jerusalem

JERUSALEM —  A thunderous blast tore through a Jerusalem bus at morning rush hour today, the start of the Israeli workweek. At least seven people were killed and dozens of others injured, police said.

Israeli authorities said they believed the explosion was the work of a suicide bomber.

The attack came at a delicate political moment -- on the eve of hearings before the International Court of Justice in The Hague over the legality of a barrier Israel is building in the West Bank.

Israel says the barrier is an essential defense against bombings such as this one, while the Palestinians say it is a massive land grab.

The attack also came just days after the visit of three high-level American envoys seeking information on Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s controversial plan to remove Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip, but perhaps also to annex some large settlement blocs in the West Bank.

The blast occurred about 8:35 a.m. along a main thoroughfare running between two leafy, affluent residential neighborhoods in the center of Jerusalem. On Jan. 29, less than half a mile away, a suicide attack on a Jerusalem bus killed 11 people.

Moments after today’s blast, a scorched smell hung heavily in the air. Body parts were scattered in the street, together with a coating of glass. At least two bodies could be seen lying next to the bus. Medics in yellow reflective vests worked to extract another body still in a seat.

A helicopter circled overhead.

The force of the explosion blew out the bus windows and peeled back the roof in the rear. A bitter, cold wind whipped the area as rescue workers cordoned off the street and held back anxious onlookers, some of them crying and speaking into cellular phones.

Nir Barkat, a Jerusalem City Council member, was in his car about 50 yards away when the explosion hit. He ran to help remove the dead and injured.

“Some were blown to bits, some are dead but whole, and some were very badly wounded,” Barkat said. Dried blood still caked his hands and trousers.

Ora Yairof, a 52-year-old woman who lives nearby and heard the blast, rushed to try to help. A human rib cage lay near the pumps of a gas station just opposite the blast, and a parked taxi was pelted with scraps of flesh.

Israel has been hit by more than 100 suicide bombings during 41 months of fighting with the Palestinians. In return, Israeli forces have clamped down on most cities in the West Bank and have hunted down hundreds of Palestinian militants.

Immediately after the bombing, Palestinian Cabinet Minister Saeb Erekat condemned the attack and urged “the United States to step up its efforts to revive the peace process,” Reuters reported.

It was not immediately known whether Israel would respond militarily to today’s attack. Sharon and his Cabinet were scheduled to meet within hours, and a government source said the possibility of retaliation would almost certainly be discussed. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the blast.

Israel generally responds to bombings by demolishing the bomber’s home and making a sweep of arrests, sometimes also staging a large-scale incursion into the West Bank town or city from which the bomber came.