World News 03-12-2001 Suicide Bombers Kill 25 who: Islamic militants Hamas what: Take responsibility as suicide bombs leave 25 dead and 200 injured where: Israel when: Yesterday snippet: "A Palestinian bomber killed 16 people yesterday when he blew himself up on a bus in the port of Haifa," says The Telegraph, "bringing the tally in a weekend of suicide attacks to 25 dead and 200 wounded." There were two horrific bombings by Hamas militants this weekend and The Independent`s Phil Reeves warns that "it may well go down as the weekend when the running conflict between Israel and the Palestinians turned from a nasty, nagging guerrilla conflict into fully fledged war." The first attack came on Saturday night when the Jerusalem`s Ben Yehuda Street promenade was teeming with revellers as two Hamas suicide bombers blew themselves up, killing 10 Israelis, all aged between 14 and 20. "Those who saw the first of Saturday night`s blasts described the horrors in language that has become sickeningly familiar in recent months," Reeves continues. "They spoke of severed limbs strewn around the pavement, of victims staggering around in confusion covered in blood. Some had nails and screws, which were packed in the explosives, buried in their flesh." Then, yesterday, a lone suicide bomber blew himself up on a bus, killing 15 other passengers. More than 40 people were injured including Israeli Arabs as well as Jews. Today, the Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon "is to hold an emergency meeting with his top cabinet ministers to decide Israel`s response," says the BBC. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat will be under enormous pressure to demonstrate a substantive effort to crack down on terrorist acts undertaken in the name of Palestine. [... more]

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