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In the bloodiest suicide bombing since January a Palestinian blew himself up aboard a packed Israeli bus in the ultra-Orthodox West Jerusalem neighbourhood of Shmuel Hanavi on Tuesday night, killing nearly 20 Israelis and wounding 120, including 40 children.

A videotape released later in Hebron identified the bomber as Raed Mesk, 25-year-old teacher and Hamas activist who was apparently a close friend of Mohamed Sidr, an Islamic Jihad activist assassinated by Israel last week. In his videotaped message Mesk accused Israel of violating the hudna reached with Hamas and said he would carry out the bombing in retaliation for last week's assassination of Sidr.

Following the bombing the Israeli government tightened the closure of already sealed Palestinian areas and announced a freeze of contacts with the Palestinian Authority, cancelling the handover of four West Bank towns to Palestinian control. In another measure expected to inflame the situation the Israeli police on Wednesday allowed tourists and Jews to visit Al-Haram Al-Sharif (Temple Mount) which has been closed to non-Muslims for the past three years.

Following the bombing the Palestinians were bracing themselves for Israeli military strikes. The hard-line Israeli cabinet member Avidgor Lieberman called yesterday for the obliteration of the Ramallah headquarters of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. "We know that the investigations of all the attacks lead to the Muqata'a (Arafat's headquarters), which ought to be obliterated along with everyone in it," Lieberman told Israeli public radio.

Palestinian premier Mahmoud Abbas announced that he was cutting contacts with Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Abbas, who was meeting with Fatah and Islamic Jihad leaders when he received word of the attack, described the bombing as a "terrible crime" and convened an emergency cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

(photo: AFP)