Israel holds off retaliating after deadly bus bombing

Israel is said not to be considering a major military strike.
JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israel held off on a major military strike today in response to a Hamas suicide bombing, giving the Palestinian prime minister more time to decide whether to shift policy and order the arrests of Palestinian militants.
Tuesday night's Jerusalem bus blast killed 20 people and wounded more than 100, including about 40 children, returning from the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest shrine. It was the deadliest Palestinian terror attack since the road map peace plan was unveiled three months ago by President Bush.
Fate of plan
The Palestinian Authority's next move could well determine the fate of the U.S.-backed peace plan.
Palestinian security chief Mohammed Dahlan met with Palestinian security commanders in the Gaza Strip, but a decision on possible action against those involved in the bombing will be made later today at a Palestinian Cabinet meeting, Dahlan spokesman Elias Zananiri said.
Dahlan ordered security commanders "to be on high alert to implement whatever decision will be taken by the political leadership and the Palestinian Authority against those who were involved in yesterday's attack in Jerusalem," the spokesman said.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, who could lose his job if violence persists, has said he will not confront the militants because he fears internal fighting. However, Abbas now faces growing pressure to take strong action against militants as required by the peace plan.
Giving more time
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and top defense officials decided today to give Dahlan time to begin cracking down on the militants, a security official said. Israel had expected to see some action already today, the official said on condition of anonymity.
Israel is expected to intensify its hunt for wanted militants if the Palestinian security forces do not take action. But a major military strike on par with last year's offensives after bombings of a similar scale is not being considered, the defense official said.
Security officials also decided against targeting Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, the official said. In the past, troops have repeatedly besieged Arafat's West Bank headquarters.
Abbas was meeting with Islamic Jihad leaders in Gaza City on Tuesday evening when he received word of the bombing. Condemning the attack as a "terrible crime," Abbas broke off contact with Hamas and Islamic Jihad, called off upcoming trips to Italy and Norway, and convened an emergency Cabinet meeting.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged Abbas "to take decisive action to arrest the instigators of this attack and prevent such attacks from happening again," U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said in New York.
What leaders say
In the Gaza Strip, Hamas leaders insisted today they remain committed to a three-month truce they and other militants declared unilaterally June 29, but said they reserve the right to take revenge for the killing of operatives by Israeli troops.
There were some indications that the bomber, who disguised himself as an ultra-Orthodox Jew, tried to settle a personal score with the attack. The assailant, 29-year-old mosque preacher Raed Mesk from the West Bank city of Hebron, was friends with an Islamic Jihad leader in Hebron, Mohammed Sidr, who was killed by troops last week.
In the meantime, Israel froze all contacts with the Palestinian Authority and canceled the planned handover of two West Bank towns to Palestinian control, a move that was expected later this week. The Israeli army also closed border crossings to seal off the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Palestinian legislator Saeb Erekat criticized Israel's decision, saying it was important to maintain contacts.
"The main message I want to send to the Americans is that ... every possible effort should be exerted to keep the road map and the truce alive," he said.
The suicide bomber detonated the explosives in the center of a tandem bus, which has two passenger sections, shortly after 9 p.m. on a main thoroughfare in central Jerusalem.
The bus was headed from the Western Wall to an ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighborhood on the city's outskirts, and families with children were packed in the seats and aisles.
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