JERUSALEM - A Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up on a crowded Jerusalem bus yesterday, killing eight passengers one day before the world court was to begin hearings on Israel's disputed West Bank barrier.
Israeli officials said the suicide bombing - the 110th in more than three years of violence - proved the need to continue building the barrier to keep out future bombers.
Today there are more funerals
more suffering more proof that there's no end to the hatred of Israelis Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said. We will continue to take all necessary measures to provide security for our citizens
including the security fence.
The Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a militant group loosely affiliated with Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, claimed responsibility for the attack and identified the bomber as Mohammed Zool, 23, from the village of Hussan near Bethlehem.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, addressing a tourism conference yesterday evening, said, Today in Jerusalem
we received a painful reminder of the cruelty of Palestinian terrorism.
He did not indicate what Israel's response would be, but Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz met with top security officials yesterday to discuss the possibilities.
The blast went off about 8:30 a.m., the peak of rush hour, as the packed public bus drove past a gas station in downtown Jerusalem. Several high school students were on the bus, and at least two of the dead were teenagers. Yesterday was a regular weekday in Israel.
I felt blood on my head. I saw terrible things. I tried not to look
said Moshe Salama, 56, whose glasses were cracked by a piece of flying debris.
The bomb, laced with pieces of iron, killed eight people in addition to the bomber and wounded 59 others, rescue officials said.
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