Bloody Sunday as six bombs rock Israel, Gaza

TEL AVIV — Two explosions hit Israel over the space of several hours Sunday, and four bombs were detonated in Gaza City which is under Palestinian control.

In the first bombing, a Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up, killing a leading Israeli doctor and injuring about 40 others. The bomber was killed in the attack in the Israeli city of Kfar Saba on Sunday morning.

Authorities said the Palestinian, who was not identified, detonated the bomb he was wearing near a crowded bus stop, Middle East Newsline reported.

Just after 9 a.m. as a bus stopped to pick up passengers along a busy street in the middle-class suburb of Kfar Saba, police commander Yehuda Bahar said "a suicide bomber approached it and leaned against it while setting off a device." Many victims were heading to work Sunday, the beginning of the work week in Israel. Ambulances and rescue services rushed to the scene, and police sealed off the area.

"Everyone was hysterical. I saw people pushing to get out the back door of the bus and I saw the driver on the ground covered with blood," said witness Noam Baraket.

Mario Goldin, a 53-year-old Israeli doctor, was killed in the attack. Most of the 50 people wounded were only lightly injured, though a 14-year-old Israeli boy was badly hurt, a hospital said.

Hours later, a bomb exploded in the northern city of Haifa. Three policemen were injured. Police said they believed this was also the work of Palestinian attackers.

On Monday, Israeli authorities arrested a Palestinian in the West Bank who was said to be holding a bomb. The Palestinian was said to have been preparing to attack a Jewish settlement near Nablus.

On early Monday, a bomb exploded near the Jewish settlement of Barkan in the West Bank. Nobody was reported injured. Another explosion was reported in the northern West Bank.

Israel did not respond to the Palestinian attacks. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon dismissed an appeal from his senior ministers to retaliate, saying he wanted to facilitate current international efforts to resume negotiations between Israel and the PA. This, he said, included an Egyptian-Jordanian plan that was earlier rejected by Sharon.

Instead, the government ordered more than 200 additional police officers to the Kfar Saba area.

On Sunday evening, four bombs exploded in Gaza City, controlled by the PA. A Palestinian was injured. Israeli sources said the explosions appeared to be the work of a bomber who was preparing to attack the Jewish state.

The bombings were the third in a week in Kfar Saba. A spokesman for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Raanan Gissin, blamed the Palestinian Authority for the attack. The PA denied any connection to the attack.