http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/middle_east/newsid_1687000/1687564.stm
Sunday, 2 December, 2001, 13:19 GMT
Israel faces deadly onslaught

Forty were injured in the bus explosion in Haifa A series of attacks by suspected Palestinian militants have killed at least 26 Israelis, causing carnage on the
streets of Jerusalem and the northern town of Haifa.

Fifteen people were killed and 40 wounded by a suicide bombing on a bus in Haifa at lunchtime. Witnesses said the force of the blast threw the bus into the air.

Israel has promised to retaliate. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is returning early from the United States and the security cabinet has been meeting in emergency session.

The attacks have wrecked an American peace mission to the region, BBC correspondents say. The violence began on Saturday night at a shopping
centre in the Ben Yehuda precinct of Jerusalem. Ten people were killed and
170 injured, most of them teenage revellers. Israeli Foreign Minister
Shimon Peres described the attack as "one of the worst... ever seen".

He summoned all foreign ambassadors in the country to a meeting to impart the
"extreme gravity of the situation." Israeli officials blamed Palestinian leader Yasser
Arafat, and the United States demanded that he act against those responsible for the attacks. As the violence continued into Sunday, Palestinian gunmen infiltrated a Jewish
settlement in northern Gaza, killing at least one Israeli and wounding five others.

The gunmen were later killed by Israeli forces. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has warned of a "commensurate" response. His talks with President George W Bush have been brought forward by 24 hours to Sunday.

Mr Bush demanded that Mr Arafat "act swiftly and decisively" against the organisations that support those who carried out the attacks.

"Now more than ever, Chairman Arafat and the Palestinian Authority must demonstrate through their actions and not merely their words their commitment to fight terror," he said.
Saturday night's blasts went off in quick succession in a busy Jerusalem neighbourhood packed with restaurants and cafes, shortly after midnight local time.

Twenty minutes later, a car bomb explosion in a nearby side street sent screaming survivors running in all directions. The area was particularly busy, following the end of
the Jewish Sabbath.

A witness, Eli Shetreet, told the Associated Press news agency he had seen bodies
hurled in the air by the blasts. "People were crying, falling, and there was the smell of
burning hair," said Shetreet, 19.

Blood was splattered across shop windows, with pieces of flesh and metal strewn
on the ground.
Blame and denial

An Israeli Government official said Mr Arafat was guilty of a "total lack of action in the domain of fighting terror".

But the Palestinian leadership issued a strongly-worded statement, condemning the attacks and pledging to track down those responsible.

A caller purporting to be from the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad told the BBC Jerusalem bureau that the group had carried out the suicide bombings and promised new attacks imminently. The caller rang off before further details could be asked.

Later, the militant group
Hamas claimed
responsibility for the
Jerusalem and Haifa
attacks on its website.

Hours after the Jerusalem blasts, Israeli forces arrested
several alleged militants in the village of Abu Dis on the
outskirts of the city.

Palestinian police arrested a top member of Islamic
Jihad, Mohammed al-Hindi after a gun battle at his
Gaza home on Saturday.

Islamic Jihad and fellow militants Hamas have
threatened to avenge Israel's killings of prominent
members of militant groups.

Condemnation and messages of sympathy came from
around the world, with Jordan also urging Israel to show
restraint in the interests of peace.

Egypt strongly condemned the attacks, as did France,
Russia and many other countries.

US demand

Senior US envoy Anthony
Zinni - visiting Israel and
Palestinian-controlled areas
to try to secure a ceasefire
- is reported to have been
heckled by angry Israelis as
he laid a wreath to the
victims of the bombings.

"Mind you own business,"
they shouted at him. "Go
home."

Mr Zinni urged Mr Arafat to
hunt down the organisers of
the attacks.