Israel...


By Steve Macko
Two suicide bombers were killed and 11 people were injured when two car bombs exploded minutes apart this morning in the PLO-ruled Gaza Strip. PLO police said that the bombings were in retaliation of last week's killing in Malta of Islamic Jihad leader Fathi Shakaki. It has been reported that Islamic Jihad has claimed responsbility for today's blasts.

The two bombs went off a minute apart and about a half mile from one another in the center of Gaza. The first attack occurred near the Kissufim crossing when a bus carrying Israeli child-care workers that was being escorted by two IDF Jeeps. The driver of the bus said a car drove slowly in front of the lead jeep. Then as the bus driver described it, "The soldiers signaled for him to move aside, but he didn't respond. The minute the jeep passed and I started to pass on the left, the car entered my lane and exploded." Three soldiers and five women, who were on the bus, were injured.

A witness who was on the bus said, "I was talking to my friend and suddenly I saw pieces of glass, chaos, screams. The bus driver was covered in blood. They took us off the bus, and then we heard another explosion."

The second blast occurred near a bus that was waiting for an IDF escort. Soldiers who were alerted to the possibility of a suicide attack were able to prevent the second suicide bomber from getting close to the second bus. The second suicide bomber was unable to get very close to the bus and blew himself up about 50 yards away from the bus.

A hospital spokesman at Soroka Hospital in Beersheba said that all eleven victims that were brought to their facility suffered only light injuries.

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