Two bombs kill one, injure 13 in Jerusalem

JERUSALEM — Two bombs have exploded in Jerusalem in one of the bloodiest days in the city since the Palestinian mini-war erupted in late September.

At least one died and seven were injured when a suicide bomber detonated his bomb in a bus in the French Hill section of Jerusalem on Tuesday afternoon — the second blast in less than six hours in Jerusalem. Earlier on Tuesday, six people were injured when a car bomb exploded in the southern Jerusalem neighborhood of Talpiot. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack.

Israeli officials said Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has pursued what they termed a policy of restraint during the current Arab League summit in Jordan. The officials said Sharon plans to launch an offensive against the Palestinian Authority and its Islamic allies after the Arab summit, expected to end on Thursday.

Police said a man carrying a large, suspicious bag was trying to board the bus with the explosives, but was forced off. The blast went off just outside the bus, killing the assailant and wounding seven bystanders, police said.

A witness Danny Sarero, 35, said he "saw a person cut in two, a body and a head lying in the street. I've never seen such a thing. Pieces of flesh strewn around for 50 meters," Sarero said. "I'm in shock."

"I can assure them (the Palestinians) that the response ... will be swift and will be coming," said Sharon spokesman Raanan Gissin, refusing to say what steps the government would take.

In the West Bank, troops enforced a tight closure on Hebron, a city of 130,000 Palestinians and about 450 Jewish settlers. Several armored personnel carriers were deployed along a major Hebron access road.

Palestinians were barred from leaving or entering the city, and about 30,000 Palestinian residents of the Israeli-controlled downtown area were confined to their homes. Settlers were permitted to move around freely. The new restrictions were imposed after Palestinian snipers on Monday shot and killed Shalhevet Pass — the youngest victim of six months of Israeli-Palestinian fighting — in one of Hebron's Jewish enclaves.

The Israeli baby was shot in the head as she was sitting in a stroller pushed by her father, Yitzhak Pass, who was wounded in the leg by gunfire from a nearby hill in the Palestinian-controlled part of Hebron.

Israel withdrew from 80 percent of Hebron in 1997, as part of interim peace accords with the Palestinians. Israeli troops remained in the center of town to guard Jewish settlers. Hebron is a frequent flashpoint of violence.

Sharon talked to U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell late Monday, complaining that after Israel eased restrictions on Palestinians, they responded by increasing attacks against Israelis.

In a statement, Sharon blamed Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority for the killing of the baby, and the military charged that the "despicable murder" amounted to a "step of escalation."

In six months of fighting, more than 430 people have been killed, including 356 Palestinians, 60 Israeli Jews and 19 others.