Hamas Bomb Kills 2 In Gaza
A soldier's courage saved a busload of Israeli schoolchildren on Thursday and probably the latest peace accord, too, CBS News Correspondent Jesse Schulman reports.
A suicide bomber in a car packed with explosives tried to attack the schoolbus as it traveled through the Gaza Strip with dozens of children on board.
When soldiers in a jeep escorting the bus spotted a suspicious car coming, the army says, they deliberately rammed it - and took the force of the blast. One soldier died, two others were wounded. The children were saved.
Yasser Arafat condemned the attack and issued an unprecedented order.
He has placed under house arrest the spiritual leader of Hamas, the Islamic radical group that claimed responsibility. It's a risky move. Hamas militants aren't likely to accept it without protest.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went to visit the injured soldiers, then declared last week's Washington peace deal is still on -- if:
"If the Wye agreement is to have any meaning, the Palestinian Authority must crack down in the most forceful way," Netanyahu said.
In a sign they may do so, Palestinian security chiefs joined in investigating the bomb attack, and promised complete cooperation.
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| Hamas leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin |
A senior Palestinian security official said that in addition to Yassin, a "large number" of Islamists were also rounded up. They included four other Hamas leaders in Gaza who were called in for questioning by intelligence agents.
The suicide attack also injured three Israelis. The 40 children, ranging in age from 6 to 14, were unharmed.
Under the terms of a Mideast peace deal worked out in Wye, Md., a 12-week West Bank troop pullback is to begin Monday.
The terror attack, the second this week, makes it increasingly difficult for Netanyahu to fend off hard-line criticism. Even before the bombing, Netanyahu had accused the Palestinians of not living up to security pledges, raising concerns that implementation of the deal could be delayed.
The explosion went off at about 7:30 a.m. Thursday at the Gush Katif Junction in the southern Gaza Strip. At the time, the Israeli school bus, guarded by two jeeps, was passing by.
"I saw one Israeli jeep blow up and burn completely," said Palestinian witness Jaber Yamawi. "I saw them take out two soldiers in ambulances."
The Israeli army commander in the Gaza Strip, Maj. Gen. Yom Tov Samia, said the officers in the lead jeep had noticed the Palestinian car trying to get close to the bus and blocked the veicle, thus taking the brunt of the blast.
The bomb was so powerful that the jeep flipped over on its side. The jeep and the bomber's car, registered to a Palestinian in the nearby town of Khan Yunis, were scorched and mangled.
Yigal Kirshenzach, a Gaza settler who prepares bodies for burials, said the jeep was still burning an hour after the explosion. "Parts [of bodies] are scattered all over. There is oil, gas, blood," Kirshenzach told Israel radio.
After the attack, the children were taken to their school in Gush Katif rather than being returned home to the nearby Kfar Darom settlement.
In school, the children talked to teachers and counselors about their experience. The children spoke of the big boom and flames and many asked about their friends on a second bus, school officials said.
Witnesses said shots had been fired by Israeli and Palestinian forces near the scene of the attack, apparently during a search of fields. A Palestinian police officer said at least one Palestinian was wounded by gunfire.
In a call to Israel radio, a man who said he spoke for Hamas read a claim of responsibility for the "wonderful operation" against Jewish settlers. "It's a revolution until victory," the caller said, suggesting the attacks would continue.
Arafat insisted that despite the attack, Israel must stick to its side of the peace agreement, withdraw from land and release Palestinian prisoners. He said the Palestinian Authority would track down those involved in plotting the attack and "try them for deliberately harming the Palestinians' national interests."
Samia, the Israeli commander, said the identity of the suicide bomber was known. Palestinian officials, however, said they only had the name of the car's owner.
Israeli Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai said he had met Palestinian security chiefs to discuss the attack and they had "promised to act immediately" against those responsible. He said Israel would watch the Palestinian Authority's response closely.
"The basis for progress in the [peace] process depends first and foremost on intensive action against terrorism," Mordechai said. "If this is done, we will make progress."
Implementation of the new peace agreement is to begin Monday. Under the accord, Israel is to withdraw from 13 percent of the West Bank over 12 weeks in exchange for a Palestinian crackdown on Islamic militants.
If the Palestinians don't continue their security crackdown, their chances of getting more West Bank land handed over are slim to none. This is the toughest test of the Washington accord thus far. It's unlikely to be the last, or the worst.