A woman was killed and 20 people wounded as a bomb exploded at the start of the morning rush hour in Tel Aviv yesterday, in the first such attack by Palestinian militants inside Israel for nearly four months.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said the attack was carried out "under the patronage" of a decision by the World Court which ruled on Friday that the West Bank separation barrier was illegal.
Emergency services rushed to the scene of the blast near a long-distance bus stop in Israel's commercial capital at around 7am and sped the badly injured to hospital.
A woman casualty was declared dead on arrival at hospital, police and medical sources said.
"One woman was killed and we have around 20 people injured," a spokesman for Tel Aviv police said.
Tel Aviv police chief Yossi Setbon said that a device had been concealed in shrubbery.
"It was caused by a charge which had been placed close to a bus stop, in the middle of bushes," he told reporters at the scene of the explosion. "A bus and nearby buildings were damaged."
Police and firefighters, using sniffer dogs, were searching the area for any other bombs and methodically gathering bolts and screws which had been packed into the device.
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, a militant group linked to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's mainstream Fatah movement, swiftly claimed responsibility for the attack in a telephone call to reporters.
A spokesman who declined to give his name said the bombing was carried out to avenge crimes committed by Israeli forces in the West Bank town of Nablus and in the Gaza Strip, where troops recently carried out deadly raids.
The attack came just two days after the International Court of Justice dealt a stunning blow to Israel by declaring its West Bank separation barrier illegal, and ruling that those parts of the structure built on Palestinian territory must be torn down.
The Israeli government has argued that the recent fall in attacks by Palestinians in Israel is a direct result of the barrier, about a third of which has been built so far.
Sharon made clear at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting in Jerusalem that his government would ignore the ruling, which he linked to yesterday's attack.
"An hour ago, an Israeli woman was murdered by Palestinian terrorist criminals and other civilians were killed. We are all praying for their wellbeing," the premier said.
"The murderous act that was carried out this morning was the first to occur under the patronage of the World Court's decision," Sharon said.
The last attack on Israeli soil came back on March 14, when 10 Israelis as well as two suicide bombers were killed in the southern port of Ashdod.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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