[WORLD TRIBUNE.COM - Tel Aviv - Sunday, April 22, 2001] Two explosions hit Israel over the space of several hours, and four bombs were detonated in Gaza City which is under Palestinian control.

In the first bombing, a Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up, killing an Israeli doctor and injuring about 40 others. The bomber was killed in the attack in the Israeli city of Kfar Saba on Sunday morning.

Authorities said the Palestinian, who was not identified, detonated the bomb he was wearing near a crowded bus stop, Middle East Newsline reported.

Just after 9 a.m. as a bus stopped to pick up passengers along a busy street in the middle-class suburb of Kfar Saba, police commander Yehuda Bahar said "a suicide bomber approached it and leaned against it while setting off a device." Many victims were heading to work Sunday, the beginning of the work week in Israel. Ambulances and rescue services rushed to the scene, and police sealed off the area.

"Everyone was hysterical. I saw people pushing to get out the back door of the bus and I saw the driver on the ground covered with blood," said witness Noam Baraket.

Mario Goldin, a 53-year-old Israeli doctor, was killed in the attack. Most of the 50 people wounded were only lightly injured, though a 14-year-old Israeli boy was badly hurt, a hospital said.

Hours later, a bomb exploded in the northern city of Haifa. A policeman was injured.

It was not clear whether Palestinian attackers were behind the bombing. Police did not rule out the possibility that this was a criminal attack.

On Sunday evening, four bombs exploded in Gaza City, controlled by the PA. A Palestinian was injured. Israeli sources said the explosions appeared to be the work of a bomber who was preparing to attack the Jewish state.

The bombings were the third in a week in Kfar Saba. A spokesman for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Raanan Gissin, blamed the Palestinian Authority for the attack. The PA denied any connection to the attack.

Mid-East Realities

www.middleeast.org

Source: http://www.middleeast.org/articles/2001/4/168.htm