Israel Retaliates For Bus Bomb

Israeli forces entered the West Bank town of Bethlehem early Friday, retaliation against the West Bank hometown of a Palestinian suicide bomber who blew up a bus in Jerusalem, killing 11 and wounding dozens.

The first Israeli forces entered Bethlehem from the south, witnesses said, and surrounded the Dheisheh refugee camp next to the town The biblical town is just south of Jerusalem.

It was just the latest Israeli incursion into the biblical town. Israeli forces have carried out air and ground raids often during 26 months of Palestinian-Israeli violence, taking full control of Bethlehem twice before.

Troops headed for Manger Square to cut off the Church of the Nativity, which marks the traditional birthplace of Jesus, said Israeli military spokesman Doron Spielman. He said the object was to prevent gunmen from seeking refuge in the church.

Earlier, a 13-year-old Israeli girl who loved to draw was buried at sunset on a Jerusalem hilltop, one of 11 people killed. Four of the dead were children.

It was the first attack in Jerusalem since August.

Two militant Islamic groups claimed responsibility for the bomb attack: Islamic Jihad and Hamas. Gissin said Hamas would be the group targeted.

Hamas participated in talks with Egypt and Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement to negotiate a freeze on Palestinian attacks at least until Israel's Jan. 28 election. A first round of talks in Cairo ended inconclusively.

A continuation of bombings and shootings would strengthen Israel's right-wing parties going into the elections.

Among the dead were four children: two 13-year-olds, an 8-year-old boy who died along with his grandmother, and a 16-year-old boy whose mother also was killed.

Hodaya Asaraf, an 8th grader at a Jerusalem arts school, was the first to be buried. Shortly after sunset, the 13-year-old was laid to rest at a hilltop cemetery amid the wails of her mother.

Passengers and police said the bomber boarded bus No. 20 and detonated the explosives belt at about 7:10 a.m., as the bus was stopped in Jerusalem's Kiryat Menachem neighborhood, police said.

The blast blew out the bus windows and sent glass shards and body parts flying. Hours later, a man's arms dangled from a broken bus window and a torso was covered with a blue and white checkered blanket.

School books, a back pack and shattered glass littered the street, reports CBS News Correspondent Robert Berger. Rescue workers, wearing white plastic jackets and gloves, had the gruesome task of removing bodies from the seats and picking up body parts.

Schoolchildren gathered at the scene of the bombing, and Berger overheard one say "If I had been here just 20 minutes earlier, that could have been me on the bus."

A woman, who apparently had a child on the bus, wept in anguish nearby.

Maor Kimche, 15, was among those on the bus, which was jammed with high school students, soldiers and the elderly.

"Suddenly, it was black and smoky. There were people on the floor. Everything was bloody. There was glass everywhere and body parts," Kimche said.

The 10th grader jumped out of a bus window and was scooped up by a taxi driver who took him to Hadassah Hospital, where he was treated for a leg injury.

He said he'd ride buses again. "How else will I get to school?" he asked.

Israeli police identified the bomber as Nael Abu Hilail, 23.

Abu Hilail's father, Azmi, said he was pleased with his son. "Our religion says we are proud of him until the day of resurrection," Abu Hilail said. "This is a challenge to the Zionist enemies."

He said Israeli troops had arrested another son and a nephew after the bombing.

Several of Nael Abu Hilail's friends said he was a supporter of Islamic Jihad.

President Bush said he was "greatly disturbed" by the terror attack in Israel, reports CBS News White House Correspondent Mark Knoller. He said it shows that those who want to use terror to abort the peace process are still active. Speaking to reporters before the start of the NATO summit, Mr. Bush said all countries in the Middle East must do their best to combat terrorism.

Mr. Bush said it remained the United States' goal to see two independent states -- Israel and Palestine -- living side-by-side in peace.

Israel is blaming Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat for the attack. "He is the guy that inspires, orchestrates and finances the operations ... and who gives the political and logistical support for the killers," Jerusalem mayor Ehud Olmert told CBS News at the scene.

Sharon adviser Gissin accused the Palestinian Authority of assisting the attackers and said that with such violence, it seemed futile to bring about a limited truce and withdraw from some Palestinian areas.

"All our efforts to hand over areas .... and all the talk about a possible cease-fire, that was all window dressing because on the ground there was a continuous effort to carry out as many terrorist activities (as possible)," Gissin said.

The Israeli army has enforced stringent travel restrictions on Palestinians in the past 26 months of fighting, and has reoccupied most West Bank towns in an attempt to stop the attacks. However, Israeli security officials say they continue to receive dozens of warnings every day about planned attacks.

Israel's range of responses is restricted by the possibility of a U.S. strike against Iraq.

Several Israeli hard-line leaders have called for Arafat's expulsion in retaliation for bombings, but such a step is sharply opposed by Washington, which is eager to maintain the support of moderate Arab governments at a time of confrontation with Iraq.