THE MIDDLE EAST: Evading a massive police manhunt, a Hamas suicide-bomber blew up a crowded bus in southern Jerusalem yesterday morning, killing 19 Israelis in the worst such attack in the city for six years. Police, who had received intelligence tip-offs that the bomber was in the city, said last night they were searching for another feared attacker.
In the first sign of an Israeli response, dozens of Israeli tanks entered the West Bank city of Jenin last night, drawing fire from Palestinian gunmen, and helicopters were reported to be firing at targets in the town's refugee camp. At the conclusion of a lengthy meeting of Israel's key cabinet ministers, chaired by the Prime Minister, Mr Ariel Sharon, late last night, officials said the army would now mount "a series of military actions" inside Palestinian cities, which would constitute a "wider response" than had followed some previous bombings. But there would be no call-up of reservists, they said, and the actions would not be on the scale of April's massive "Operation Defensive Shield".
The officials added that the deportation of some leading Palestinian figures was being contemplated, but not that of the Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat.
The PA issued a statement condemning the bus-bombing and all killing of civilians and pledged to try and thwart further attacks. Still, Mr Saeb Erekat, a member of the PA's cabinet, said it rejected "any Israeli attempts to assign blame or finger pointing at us", and charged that Israel had consistently "limited our ability" to tackle the bombers.
But Mr Sharon insisted that Mr Arafat and the PA bore full responsibility, charging that it relentlessly incited and funded acts of terrorism. Departing from his practice of staying away from bombing sites, Mr Sharon visited the bloody scene of the blast and issued statements that appeared to be aimed both at the PA and at US President George Bush, who is set to deliver a major Middle East speech any day now, in which he is said to be contemplating endorsing "provisional Palestinian statehood". "The horrible pictures we saw here today, of these murderous acts by the Palestinians, are stronger than any words," said Mr Sharon. "It is interesting (to ask) what kind of Palestinian state they intend to create.
What are they talking about?" Mr Sharon has said in the past that he backs the idea of Palestinian statehood, but has pleaded with Mr Bush not to support it now, arguing that this would be seen as a "reward" for violence against Israel.
As the first funerals of the victims were held last night, more than a dozen people remained in hospital, several with serious injuries. Hamas named the bomber as 22-year-old Mohammed al-Ghoul, who came from Al-Faraa refugee camp near Nablus in the West Bank, and was taking a master's degree in Islamic Studies at a university in that city.
His father, Haza, describing him as "a martyr", said: "We have only to ask our God to be merciful with him."
The bombing came just a few days after Israel formally announced the start of construction on a fence between the West Bank and Israel, intended to thwart such bombings.
Jerusalem's Mayor, Mr Ehud Olmert, said there was "at least one more homicide attacker" en route to the city, and that hospitals were considered a possible target. "If they killed 19 innocent people in a bus with kids," he said, "why wouldn't they go to a hospital and kill others?"
Hours after the blast, Israeli troops north of Hebron shot dead Mohammad Besharat, an Islamic Jihad member alleged by Israel to have been involved in the March killing of two members of an international observer force in Hebron.