A homicide bomber disguised as an Orthodox Jew blew himself up on a bus packed with young parents and kids coming home from prayers in Jerusalem last night, killing at least 18 and badly wounding scores more.
At least five children were among the dead – including babies still wearing their diapers as their corpses were bundled into black body bags.
Another 1-month-old infant was fighting for his life after his broken body was discovered beneath a corpse in the twisted, scorching wreckage.
Israeli hospital officials hit the national airwaves in a heart-wrenching appeal to try to find the infant’s missing parents, as well as those of another badly hurt child.
Some feared the worst: that the children’s’ moms and dads might already be among the dead.
“There were small babies bleeding on the ground. One of our workers was leaning over an infant, no more than 15 months old, giving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation,” said a shaken Zelig Feiner, an official with an Orthodox burial society.
“It was hopeless.”
One wounded man told Israeli TV that as soon as the explosion occurred, “children flew out of the bus.”
The double-long bus’s passengers reportedly included members of one family that had just celebrated a Bar Mitzvah at the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest site.
The crowded bus was returning from the wall around 9:15 p.m. when it exploded outside the entrance of the densely populated Orthodox quarter of Shmuel Hanavi in the city’s center.
The bomber is believed to have boarded the bus dressed in the dark, traditional garb of ultra-Orthodox Jews, which enabled him to blend in with the crowd, Israeli officials said.
He was identified as 29-year-old Raed Abdul Hamid Mask, a married high-school teacher and father of two from Hebron who doubled as a member of the Hamas terror group.
After the attack, Hamas released a chilling videotape of Mask in which the bearded, bespectacled self-described “sheik” vowed to avenge a Hamas leader’s recent death.
The pudgy killer spewed his venom-filled speech while holding a rifle in one hand and the Koran in the other.
Mask’s twisted wife, Areg, crowed to the press yesterday: “Thank God, my husband is a martyr.”
The attack was the worst on Israeli soil in more than a year – and immediately threw into doubt ongoing talks over the region’s proposed “road map” to peace.
The bomber had apparently packed his explosives with metal pellets and shards to maximize the carnage, Israeli officials said.
“I can see three dismembered bodies, including a severed arm, a severed lower torso and a woman with her chest blown out,” said Barry Moody, a correspondent for Reuters who was standing near the site when the bus exploded.
“There’s actually a piece of human flesh . . . [about 60 feet] from one of the two buses.”
Rescuers with blow torches rushed in to try to pry the screaming wounded from the burning wreckage, as small, bloodied children wandered through the site in shock and loud sobs and wails from adult survivors filled the air.
“I heard a huge blast, and when I turned around I saw parts of the bus flying everywhere,” said Jacob Bitnovsky, who was driving his car nearby when the bombing occurred.
“I got out of the car and ran. There was a lot of smoke, and I saw a child on the ground gasping for air.”
At least 40 children were among the more than 136 injured.
“It’s a sickening picture. . . . Some of the children have charred skin from the fire,” said Zvi Stern, a director at one local hospital treating the wounded.
The massive force of the blast shredded the bus’s roof, blew out its windows and crumpled its large metal frame. Two others buses, one in front of it and one behind, also were damaged by the blast.
Passengers on all three buses, as well as passers-by, were killed or wounded, Israeli officials said.
Israeli officials said Mask had been in the middle of the double bus when he detonated his deadly package.
“We’re talking about a big bomb,” Jerusalem police Cmdr. Miki Levy said as rescuers piled up torn bodies and limbs on the side of the road.
“[The bodies of] those killed are so seriously damaged that it’s very hard to identify them.”
There were conflicting claims of responsibility last night.
In addition to Hamas, Islamic Jihad said it had carried out the attack, the worst single bombing in Israel since June 18, 2002, when a bomber blew himself up on a crowded bus in Jerusalem, killing 19.
“As long as there are Israeli violations to the truce, Israel will remain responsible for the consequences,” Hamas leader Ismail Abu Shanab said yesterday.
At a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon, hundreds of cheering young men openly passed out sweets in the street to “celebrate” the attack.
“Death to America! Death to Israel!” the protesters yelled.
“Yes to the resistance, and yes to more operations!”
Israel immediately froze talks on the handover of four key West Bank towns to the Palestinians. With Post Wire Services