Palestinian suicide bomber kills nine

JERUSALEM -- A Palestinian suicide bomber detonated a powerful explosive Saturday in an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Jerusalem, killing at least nine people and wounding more than 30. The attack targeted worshippers pouring into streets following sundown prayers at the end of the Jewish Sabbath.

The thunderous blast shook downtown Jerusalem and sent flames leaping into the air from a car that caught fire. Blood splattered the stone wall in front of the Mahane Israel seminary, where up to 1,000 Jews meet every Saturday evening. A 1-year-old child was among the dead.

Israel hinted it would retaliate.

"This has nothing to do with warfare, this has nothing to do with national liberation, this has to do with the murder of innocent Jews," said Israeli government spokesman Dore Gold. "The state of Israel knows how to defend the people of Israel, and will do so."

Palestinian militants had vowed to attack after Israel's military stormed into two West Bank refugee camps over the past three days. At least 23 Palestinians -- including gunmen, policemen and civilians -- have been killed in the camps since Thursday, and Israeli troops were continuing to search for militants and weapons in the Balata refugee camp on the edge of Nablus in the West Bank.

Arafat follower

Palestinian security sources said the Jerusalem bomber was Mohammed Daragmeh, 20, a member of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, which is part of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement. They said he came from the Dheisheh refugee camp near Bethlehem.

The bomber entered the Mea Shearim neighborhood in west Jerusalem, approached a group and detonated a large explosive on his body, said Jerusalem police chief Mickey Levy.

Hundreds of Palestinians staged an impromptu celebration, chanting, "revenge, revenge," and firing guns into the air at the entrance to Dheisheh camp.

Arafat's administration denounced the bombing in a statement, but also criticized Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for the "crimes against Palestinian civilians" in the refugee camps.

It said it holds "Sharon and his government responsible for the deterioration in the region, and any coming deterioration."

Shortly after the bombing, an Israeli policeman on a motorcycle was shot dead in a Jewish settlement just outside Jerusalem, police said. The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade also claimed responsibility for that killing.

Mixed neighborhood

With sirens wailing, ambulances and police cars rushed to Mea Shearim, which lies just across a main road from Palestinian neighborhoods in east Jerusalem.

"I came right out and saw a car on fire, the building next to it was also on fire," said one witness, Yitzhak Weinberger, 22.

Firefighters hosed down a smoking car, and rescue workers rushed the wounded to hospitals following the blast, which took place shortly after sundown. The Jewish Sabbath runs from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday.

In addition to the attacker, at least nine people were killed, including a 1-year-old child, according to hospital officials and Levy. More than 30 people were injured, the officials said.

Scraps of flesh and clothes were scattered on the streets. Jewish volunteers picked up the small pieces of human remains to ensure a proper Jewish burial.

The neighborhood's ultra-Orthodox Jews, in blacks coats and hats, packed the street and looked on from the balconies of the old stone homes lining the road. Some chanted, "no Arabs, no terror attacks."

Meanwhile, Israel's army said it captured suspected Palestinian militants and uncovered rockets and explosives during three days of house-to-house searches in the densely packed Balata refugee camp, next to Nablus, in the West Bank, the army said Saturday.

Israeli soldiers pulled out of a second refugee camp Saturday, this one on the outskirts of Jenin, about 20 miles from Nablus. The troops and tanks moved to hilltops overlooking the camp and Jenin.