Two Tel Aviv Bombs Jeopardize Mideast Peace

Two bombs tore through a pedestrian walkway near the central bus station Thursday night, injuring 13 people and dealing a harsh new blow to the Middle East peace process.

Although no group took responsibility for the attack, police said immediately they suspected Palestinian militants were to blame. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, visiting the wounded at a hospital, said if it were terror, Israel would respond with “extreme severity.”

“It’s a very grave attack,” he said.

“It’s in the heart of Tel Aviv and … it appears to be a terrorist attack. If it turns out the terrorists came from the area controlled by the Palestinian Authority, we will not treat this as business as usual.”

Thursday’s explosions - the first in nine months, since a series of suicide bombings last winter killed 63 people - took place shortly before 8:30 p.m. on the Neve Shaanan pedestrian walkway near the bus station in the southern part of the city. Police Minister Avigdor Kahalani said the explosives were pipe bombs packed with nails. The bombs had been planted in garbage bins next to a theater that shows sex films in a run-down part of Tel Aviv.

The second bomb, apparently set with a delay mechanism, detonated about 10 minutes after the first, as police were clearing the area and searching for the bombers.

The attack comes against the backdrop of faltering peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians, who have been trying for three months to agree on an Israeli troop redeployment in the West Bank city of Hebron.