Shortly after 9 AM this morning, a car bomb exploded in an apartment building\'s parking lot at the Bethlehem Rd.- Rivka St. intersection in Jerusalem\'s Talpiot neighborhood. One person was wounded by shrapnel, two were treated for shock, and several cars parked nearby went up in flames. Jerusalem Police Chief Mickey Levy reported that the bomb was of \"medium-to-large\" size, and included rifle bullets that were designed to be shot off by the blast, nails, and a gas canister. The car was stolen a short time ago from a Jewish community in the Shomron.
The Islamic Jihad has reportedly taken responsibility for the bomb. Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said that the Jihad and Hamas are the \"Middle East\'s Bin Laden, and we must fight them without mercy.\" Public Security Minister Uzi Landau said that beginning tomorrow, at the end of the most recent 48-hour deadline set by Prime Minister Sharon, \"the terrorists must not be given a moment\'s rest.\"
The 48 additional ceasefire hours Prime Minister Sharon offered on Saturday night to see if Arafat would stop the violence were violated by the Palestinians long before today\'s car bomb, however. Although there was a short period of quiet yesterday afternoon, the hours before and after were marked by a number of attempted murders and attacks by Arafat\'s men. This morning, a bomb was detonated on a road used by the IDF north of Shechem, following a similar explosion nearby on the road to Mt. Eval. Arabs hurled two dozen firebombs at soldiers near Tul Karem, and fired on IDF posts near Bethlehem, south of Hevron, and adjacent to the Machpelah Cave in Hevron. Palestinians shot at a passing Jewish car outside the Arab village of Turmus Aya, near the southern Shomron community of Shilo, after which the IDF declared a curfew on the village. No Israelis were hurt, nor were any Palestinians arrested.
In Gaza, too, Palestinians fired two mortar shells over the night at a Gush Katif community, as well as anti-tank missiles at a nearby IDF position.
Hundreds of residents from the western Shomron community of Karnei Shomron demonstrated outside a nearby Arab village last night. They were protesting the attempted murder of a Karnei woman yesterday morning. The would-be killers, who shot at the woman\'s car, escaped into the village. Police arrived on the scene last night and, according to one protestor, turned the rally into a violent one by using undue force on the residents. At 2:30 AM, a 14-year-boy who had been badly bruised by the police actions was arrested by police in his home; he was released from custody only around noon today.
The Islamic Jihad has reportedly taken responsibility for the bomb. Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said that the Jihad and Hamas are the \"Middle East\'s Bin Laden, and we must fight them without mercy.\" Public Security Minister Uzi Landau said that beginning tomorrow, at the end of the most recent 48-hour deadline set by Prime Minister Sharon, \"the terrorists must not be given a moment\'s rest.\"
The 48 additional ceasefire hours Prime Minister Sharon offered on Saturday night to see if Arafat would stop the violence were violated by the Palestinians long before today\'s car bomb, however. Although there was a short period of quiet yesterday afternoon, the hours before and after were marked by a number of attempted murders and attacks by Arafat\'s men. This morning, a bomb was detonated on a road used by the IDF north of Shechem, following a similar explosion nearby on the road to Mt. Eval. Arabs hurled two dozen firebombs at soldiers near Tul Karem, and fired on IDF posts near Bethlehem, south of Hevron, and adjacent to the Machpelah Cave in Hevron. Palestinians shot at a passing Jewish car outside the Arab village of Turmus Aya, near the southern Shomron community of Shilo, after which the IDF declared a curfew on the village. No Israelis were hurt, nor were any Palestinians arrested.
In Gaza, too, Palestinians fired two mortar shells over the night at a Gush Katif community, as well as anti-tank missiles at a nearby IDF position.
Hundreds of residents from the western Shomron community of Karnei Shomron demonstrated outside a nearby Arab village last night. They were protesting the attempted murder of a Karnei woman yesterday morning. The would-be killers, who shot at the woman\'s car, escaped into the village. Police arrived on the scene last night and, according to one protestor, turned the rally into a violent one by using undue force on the residents. At 2:30 AM, a 14-year-boy who had been badly bruised by the police actions was arrested by police in his home; he was released from custody only around noon today.