Kesher Talk

Hebrew University bombing: I was acutely nervous, since many of my family's friends teach there, but it seems unlikely they were involved. It is interesting how detached I can become about the bombings, since they've been going on for so long...

Below is the latest Jerusalem Post.com report. But please take note of the headline running just after the bombing story: "Israel gives Palestinian Authority NIS 70 million":

AT LEAST SIX DEAD, 50 WOUNDED IN HEBREW UNIVERSITY BLAST

An explosion rocked a cafeteria at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem at lunchtime Wednesday, killing at least six people and wounding up to 70, rescue officials and media reports said.

Ilan Franko, deputy police chief of Jerusalem, said police are still checking whether the blast that occurred at about 1:45 p.m. was the work of a suicide bomber or an explosive placed at the site, possibly in a brief case.

At least six people were killed, said Israeli government spokesman Danny Seaman said. The Israeli rescue service put the number of wounded at about 70, nine seriously.

The Hamas terror group claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement broadcast on Al-Jazeera Television. It said the bombing was in retaliation for Israel's assassination last week of Hamas bomb mastermind Salah Shehadeh in Gaza.

The explosion gutted the cafeteria of the university's Frank Sinatra Pavilion, which is the student union building, witnesses said. Channel 2 said many foreign students were about when the attack occurred.

The site of the blast is next door to the Rothberg International School, where about 80 pupils from the US and other Western countries arrived Wednesday to prepare for the fall semester.

Though classes are not in session, students are taking exams and the cafeteria was busy at the time of the blast.

"There was a terrorist and he blew up," a witness, identified only as Shai, told Army Radio. "There is a lot of chaos, a lot of police. It's a mess, there's a lot of wounded."

Sirens wailing, rescue vehicles rushed to the scene, swiftly removing bloodied victims. Sniffer dogs were checking to see if there were any additional bombs in the area.

The wounded were quickly evacuated from the scene and taken to Jerusalem area hospitals, Israel Radio reported.

posted by Howard @ 7/31/2002 09:22:10 AM