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Terrorism

16 dead as ?Palestinians? attack Beersheva


By Jerusalem Newswire Editorial Staff
August 31, 2004

Palestinian Arab terrorists simultaneously blew up two public buses in the Negev city of Beersheva Tuesday afternoon, killing 16 people and wounding more than 100 others.

Among the dead was a three-year-old child.

Several hours after the double bombing, five of the wounded were still listed in serious-to-critical condition at Beersheva’s Soroka Medical Center.

The death toll was far lower than it could have been due to the quick thinking of Ya’akov Cohen, who was driving the second targeted bus.

"I saw the first explosion and thought, my God, I've got to get out of here. I drove about 10 meters and then opened the doors," he told reporters from his hospital bed, where he was recovering from leg injuries.

"I believe that between 10 to 15 people got off my bus,” Cohen recalled.

The Islamic terrorist organization Hamas claimed credit for the mass murder, its first successful “suicide” bombing against Israeli Jews in months, and hailed it as a “heroic operation” from mosque loudspeakers throughout the Gaza Strip.

Shortly after the attack, IDF forces raided the Hebron home of Ahmed al-Kawasma, one of the Hamas killers responsible for the massacre.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon convened his security cabinet Tuesday evening to discuss Israel’s response. The prime minister and his aides insisted the attack would have no affect on his determination to uproot the Jewish communities of Gaza.

Some government officials noted the “Palestinians” would do everything possible to make Sharon’s planned evacuation look like the result of successful terrorist attacks. They said that as such, Sharon’s policies, which were roundly rejected by his Likud Party, were encouraging terror.

Police forces were placed on heightened alert throughout the country following the attack.

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