Bus blown up in Jerusalem

JERUSALEM -- A Palestinian man wearing a bomb belt blew himself up Thursday on a Jerusalem city bus packed with high school students and soldiers, killing 11 passengers and wounding dozens in a morning rush hour attack.\nFour of the victims were aged 8 to 16, police said.\nThe Islamic militant group Hamas claimed responsibility. The bomber came from Bethlehem, Israel confirmed, raising the possibility Israel might retake the West Bank town from which it withdrew in August. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon convened his security Cabinet for an emergency meeting.\nIslamic militants said attacks would continue, despite efforts by Egypt and the Palestinian Authority to negotiate a freeze in attacks at least until Israel's Jan. 28 election. A continuation of bombings and shootings -- there have been scores in the past 26 months of fighting -- would strengthen Israel's right-wing parties.\nPresident Bush condemned the bombing, but said it remained the United States' goal to see two independent states -- Israel and Palestine -- living side-by-side in peace.\nThe assailant, wearing a bomb belt around his waist, set off the explosives in the middle of the bus at about 7:10 a.m. as it was stopped in Jerusalem's residential Kiryat Menachem neighborhood, police said.\nMaor Kimche, 15, said he had just boarded the bus when the blast went off. "Suddenly, it was black and smoky. There were people on the floor. Everything was bloody. There was glass everywhere and body parts," Kimche said.\nThe 10th grader who had been en route to school in downtown Jerusalem jumped out of a bus window and was scooped up by a taxi driver who took him to nearby Hadassah Hospital. Kimche was lightly injured in the left leg.\nThe youngster said the bus was crowded with high school students, soldiers and elderly passengers. He said he'd ride the bus again once he was well. "How else will I get to school?" he asked.\nThe blast blew out the bus windows. A torso that had fallen over the side of the bus was covered with a white-and-blue checkered blanket. Sandwiches and schoolbooks lay scattered in the street.\nAs rescue workers removed the dead from the bus, the bodies were placed in black plastic bags that were numbered and laid out in a row along a sidewalk.\nEleven people were killed and at least 48 wounded, eight of them very seriously, authorities said. Israel Radio said many of the casualties were school students, though hospital officials declined to give a breakdown.\nIsraeli police identified the bomber as Nael Abu Hilail, 23.\nAbu 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."\nHe said Israeli troops had arrested another of his sons and a nephew soon after the bombing.\nSeveral of Nael Abu Hilail's friends said he was a supporter of the Islamic Jihad group. However, Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was avenging the death of the commander of its military wing, Saleh Shehadeh, killed July 23 by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City.\nRaanan Gissin, an adviser to Sharon, said efforts to bring about a limited truce and withdraw from some Palestinian areas seem futile. "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.