16 Israelis die in bus attack

BEERSHEBA, Israel – Palestinian suicide bombers blew up two buses in this Israeli desert city Tuesday, killing 16 passengers and wounding more than 80 in an attack that ended a six-month lull in violence.

The buses exploded into flames just seconds apart and about 100 yards away from each other in the center of Beersheba, the deadliest suicide strike in nearly a year.

Israel had attributed the lull to its separation barrier, arrest sweeps and widespread network of informers.

The Hamas militant group claimed responsibility, issuing a leaflet in Hebron, the closest Palestinian city to Beersheba, saying it was avenging Israel’s assassinations of two of its leaders earlier this year.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon met with his security advisers to plan a response, expected to include a military operation in Hebron. Just hours before the attack, Sharon presented his hard-line Likud Party with the most detailed timetable yet for Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

Despite the bombings, Sharon promised to push forward with the Gaza pullout, while insisting Israel would keep fighting terrorism “with all its might.”

“This has no connection to disengagement,” he said, referring to his program to separate Israel from the Palestinians.

Israeli officials said the bombings proved the need for the barrier now under construction between Israel and the West Bank. The section between Hebron and Beersheba has not been built yet.

The barrier, which Israel says is necessary to keep out suicide bombers, has been widely condemned internationally because of the hardships it imposes on Palestinians.

It had been nearly six months since Israelis last experienced the scene of charred buses, mangled bodies and screaming sirens that played out in Beersheba on Tuesday.

Israel’s rescue service said 30 of the wounded in Tuesday’s attack were in serious condition.

One of the bus drivers, Yaakov Cohen, opened his doors and ordered passengers off after hearing the first blast, apparently saving a number of lives.

“I don’t know why I thought to open the doors,” Cohen told reporters, still dazed, “but at least some of the people were able to escape.”

In Hebron, the Israeli army surrounded the homes of the two suspected bombers, Ahmed Qawasmeh and Nasim Jaabari, and questioned their relatives.

In Gaza, thousands of Hamas supports took to the streets to celebrate. Palestinian officials condemned the attack, however.

“The Palestinian interest requires a stop to harming all civilians so as not give Israel pretext to continue its aggression against our people,” Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said in a statement.

In a development clearly related to the bombings, Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman canceled a visit to the West Bank, set for today. Suleiman has been leading a yearlong Egyptian effort to negotiate an end to Palestinian attacks.

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