Two Suicide Bombers Kill 22, Wound 100 in Tel Aviv

The blasts tore through a working class pedestrian mall and a crowded bus station at 6:30 pm local time. News reports showed body parts and wounded littered across the area. 

According to the police, the bombers chose their targets and method to ensure the most carnage.

“They were very strong explosive devices. In each case metal fragments were added to the explosives to increase the amount of death,” Israeli police spokesman Gil Kleiman told Reuters at the scene. 

The al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, the radical offshoot of Yasser Arafat’s Fatah movement, claimed responsibility for the attacks. 

“The people who chose this place wanted to cause the most terrible result. What we have seen today is that Palestinian terrorism is trying to kill as many people as possible,” an Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman said. 

The Palestinian Authority condemned the bombings, calling them a “terrorist” attack. 

“The Palestinian Authority reiterates its position of condemning the killing of civilians whether Israelis or Palestinians,” said Palestinian cabinet minister Saeb Erekat. 

Despite the Palestinian statements, the Israeli cabinet met in an emergency meeting to consider a response and only hours later Israeli gunships fired at least ten missiles at targets in Gaza City. The helicopters reportedly targeted Palestinian Authority facilities and two metal foundries. 

An Israeli army spokeswoman said the helicopters destroyed a weapons-making workshop in Gaza City. 

“It was used by terrorists to make mortar shells and other weapons but mainly mortars,” she told Reuters. 

The attacks, the bloodiest in six months, come just three weeks before Israel is set to head to the polls. 

In Washington, President Bush denounced the bombings. 

“I condemn this attack in the strongest possible terms,” Bush said in a written statement. “It is a despicable act of murder.” 

The president called on those interested in peace in the region to join in the effort to stop terror. 

“The United States is determined to continue the global fight against terrorism and against the terrorist organizations that conduct operations such as the murders in Israel today,” he said.