(5 Jun 2002)

Near Megiddo, Northern Israel
1. Scene of blast with burnt out bus
2. Police and rescue workers remove body bags from scene of blast
3. Forensics experts sifting through debris

Jerusalem
4. SOUNDBITE: (English) Ra'anan Gissim, Senior aide to Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon
"Right now five weeks after Operation Defensive Shield, it is obvious to anybody who has eyes and anyone who wants to look at the evidence, that the Palestinian Authority is not doing anything, absolutely nothing to stop terrorist activity, not even issuing direct orders to their security forces. So what difference would it make if they have three or six or twelve organisations as long as they are controlled by one man who has established and adopted a strategy of terror and has not changed it. The reform must happen in the strategy before it happens in the structure, and until that happens we will continue in our policy of self defence and you can rest assured that following this attack there will be no sanctuary and no safe haven for any terrorist where ever they are."

Near Megiddo, Northern Israel
5. Police around road junction where blast took place
6. Various of debris

STORYLINE:

Israeli police sifted through the wreckage after an Islamic militant blew himself up in a car packed with explosives alongside a crowded Israeli bus on Wednesday.

At least 16 passengers were killed and dozens wounded in the suicide attack marking the 35th anniversary of the 1967 Mideast War.

Body parts and the personal belongings of passengers were scattered in a wide radius.

Rescue workers in white overalls collected the remains.

The bus had left from Tel Aviv, on the Mediterranean coast, and was making several stops in northern Israel.

The route passes a number of mostly Arab towns, and authorities believe both Arabs and Jews were on the bus.

The militant group Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack which has been condemned by the Palestinian Authority.

Israel held Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat responsible.

It was the deadliest attack since Israel wrapped up a six-week military offensive against Palestinian militias in the West Bank last month.

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