HIGHLIGHTS: Hamas Claims Responsibility||Israel Yet Again Holds Arafat Responsible||The Blast Takes Place Despite Security Alert in Jerusalem Since Monday|| STORY: A Palestinian Resistance bomber blew himself up on a crowded city bus in Jerusalem during rush hour Tuesday morning, killing at least 19 people and injuring more than 52, Israeli police said.
The blast shattered the bus just before 8 a.m. local time, peeling off its roof and sides. The explosion went off as the bus waited at a traffic light near a busy intersection in southern Jerusalem.

Jerusalem Police Chief Mickey Levy said there were at least 19 dead, and that toll might rise. Paramedics said there at least 52 were wounded, including several passengers in serious and very serious condition.

The Palestinian Resistance group Hamas claimed responsibility for the bombing on a Jerusalem bus Tuesday, the bomber's father said.

Hazaa al-Ghoul told Reuters he received a telephone call from a Hamas official to inform him that his son, Mohammed al-Ghoul, carried out the attack..
Mohammed al-Ghoul was a student of Islamic studies at al-Najah University in the West Bank city of Nablus. He had apparently disappeared about three days ago. His father told Reuters from his home in the al-Fara refugee camp, near Nablus, that he was "very happy" to hear that his son was the bomber.
Hamas later issued a written claim of responsibility for the bombing, the latest in a string of Resistance attacks against Israelis since a Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation began in September 2000 after peace talks deadlocked.


Israel held Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat responsible, saying Arafat is encouraging terror attacks. "The Palestinian Authority is drenched in terror. This terror has seeped into (Palestinian) society," said David Baker, an official in Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's office.

More than 230 Israelis have been killed in the past 21 months by suicide bombers, all from the West Bank. The Gaza Strip, where the Resistance Hamas group is based, is fenced in.

Jerusalem police had been on high alert since Monday after receiving warnings that a bomber was trying to carry out an attack in Jerusalem. Acting on specific intelligence information, police set up checkpoints throughout the city.

PHOTO CAPTION:

Black body bags lie next to an Israeli bus as security officers and medics search for clues near the neighborhood of Gilo in Jerusalem, June 18, 2002. A suspected Palestinian Resistance bomber blew himself up, killing 19 people and wounding many others. Photo by Yannis Behrakis/Reuters