ISRAEL Casualty toll rises after 2 bus bombings

Hamas claimed responsibility for the near-simultaneous blasts.
BEERSHEBA, Israel (AP) -- Suicide bombers blew up two buses almost simultaneously in southern Israel today, killing at least 15 people and wounding more than 80 others in the first Palestinian attack inside Israeli in nearly six months.
The twin blasts, claimed by the militant group Hamas, were likely to provoke a harsh Israeli response. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon planned to meet with top security officials later today, his office said.
The buses burst into flames about 100 yards apart near a bustling intersection in Beersheba, the largest city in southern Israel, just 10 miles from the West Bank. Hamas issued a leaflet in Hebron -- the closest Palestinian city to Beersheba -- saying the attack was avenging Israel's assassinations of two of its leaders earlier this year.
The explosions came just hours after Sharon presented to his Likud party the most detailed timetable yet for Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and warned party rebels the plan "will be implemented, period."
After the attacks, Sharon said "the fight against terror will continue full strength." Aides said he would push forward with the pullout.
Cleanup
Rescue workers scoured the scene, cleaning up body parts and scattered pieces of the wreckage as dozens of onlookers gathered nearby. A hand with a ring lay on the ground, and spattered blood covered the walls of the mangled buses.
"People were screaming and yelling. Everybody was running," said witness Tzvika Schreter, a 50-year-old college lecturer.
Police said the messy scene was complicating the recovery of bodies and warned the death toll could rise. They did not know whether the suicide bombers were among the 15 recovered bodies.
Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service said 30 of the wounded were in serious or moderate condition.
In the Gaza Strip, Muslim leaders praised the "heroic operation" -- a phrase referring to suicide bombings -- over mosque loudspeakers. "There will be no security for Israel as long as the occupation stands," said one of the leaders.