Suicide bombers strike twice in Israel

JERUSALEM -- Twin suicide bombings killed at least 13 people and wounded at least 45 in Israel on Tuesday -- striking a bus stop crowded with Israeli soldiers in a Tel Aviv suburb and then a cafe in a Jewish neighborhood of Jerusalem. The attacks underscored the collapse of U.S.-backed peace efforts.\nThere have been about 100 suicide bombings against Israelis over the last three years, but rarely have two attacks been carried out on the same day. Both bombers also died in Tuesday's blasts, which happened about 5 1/2 hours apart.\nThere was no claim of responsibility for either attack. But Hamas praised both bombings and dozens celebrated in the Gaza Strip, firing assault rifles into the air. The Islamic militant group had been expected to avenge Israel's attempt on the life of its spiritual leader on Saturday.\nEarlier Tuesday, Israeli troops in the West Bank city of Hebron killed two Hamas members and a 12-year-old bystander and exploded a seven-story apartment building where the militants had been hiding.\nThe violence came amid political uncertainty after the resignation of the Palestinian prime minister, with an increasing number of Israeli officials calling for the expulsion of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.\nAhmed Qureia, whom Arafat has asked to become Palestinian prime minister, said: "We express our regrets and pain for the innocent lives (lost) as a result of violence and counter-violence. Such an act stresses once again the necessity that both the Palestinian and Israeli leadership ... search for ways to end this killing."\nU.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher, speaking after the first bombing, said the attack "underscores the urgency with which the Palestinian Authority needs to take immediate and effective steps to dismantle and disarm the terrorist capabilities."\nThe bombers struck while Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was visiting India. Militants have often carried out attacks during Sharon's trips -- occasionally causing him to return. A senior Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Sharon's India tour would continue.\nThe second suicide attack took place about 11:20 p.m. Tuesday, when a bomber struck at the popular Cafe Hillel on a strip with many restaurants and small shops. Ambulances rushed to the residential German Colony area of Jewish west Jerusalem, and workers carried away the wounded on stretchers.\nAt least six people were killed in addition to the bomber and more than 30 were wounded. Police said the bomber managed to get into the cafe even though two security guards were posted at the entrance -- one inside the door and one outside.\nJerusalem police commander Mickey Levy told Israel Radio one guard tried to stop the attacker, and that he then set off the bomb.\n"I have a store next to the cafe. I arrived just a few moments after the blast. I saw things that just can't be described, there are no words," said a witness who identified himself only as Shavi.\nAfter the bombing, hundreds of people milled about near the cafe's shattered front windows. One body lay at the cafe's entrance covered in a white blanket; the street was strewn with glass.\nThe blast set off the alarms of dozens of parked cars. Police broke car windows to check for bombs.\nPolice cordoned off the area while rescue workers treated sobbing victims, and a dazed, wounded man sat on the street, holding a bloody T-shirt to his head.\nThe White House denounced the attacks.\n"We condemn this act of terrorism and extend our condolences to loved ones of those killed or injured," said White House deputy press secretary Claire Buchan, traveling with President Bush in Jacksonville, Fla.