Jerusalem blast kills two

JERUSALEM -- A Palestinian woman on Sunday became the first female to launch a bomb attack against Israel, killing herself and an 81-year-old Israeli man and wounding at least a dozen people on a busy Jerusalem street.

Israeli police said they were not sure if the woman intended to kill herself or if the bomb exploded prematurely as she walked along Jaffa Street, the main commercial strip in west Jerusalem.

In Lebanon, the Al-Manar television station run by the militant Hezbollah movement said the bomber was Shinaz Amuri, a female student at Al-Najah University in the West Bank town of Nablus.

Israel accused Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat of "encouraging terrorism" and said it was prepared to respond to the bombing -- the third major attack in an Israeli city in a week.

Vice President Dick Cheney said Arafat must "make a 100 percent good-faith effort to put an end to terrorism."

The blast next to a shoe shop blew out shop windows, set a store on fire and left victims sprawled on the pavement amid shards of glass, pieces of fruit, shoes and storefront mannequins.

"It sounded like half the street exploded," said Hama Gidon, a clothing store worker who was injured. "All the mannequins went flying and I did too. People were falling, glass was flying everywhere."

More than 100 people were treated on the spot or taken to hospitals, though most suffered only from shock. Three people were seriously hurt and nine had moderate injuries, officials said.

U.S. citizen survives

Mark Sokolov, a U.S. citizen from Woodmere, N.Y., who survived the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, was slightly hurt in Sunday's explosion along with his wife and two daughters.

"I heard a loud whoosh, like a bang, and I kind of saw things flying around a little bit, and then I realized I was able to get up and walk around," Sokolov told Israeli television. Sokolov said he was on the 38th floor of the World Trade Center's south tower on Sept. 11 when a hijacked airliner hit the north tower. His office was evacuated and he escaped before the south tower was hit.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for Sunday's attack, but Israel said it held Arafat ultimately responsible.

Arafat is "encouraging terrorism, he's sending attackers to Jerusalem," said Raanan Gissin, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. "We will continue to systematically dismantle the terrorist infrastructure."

The Palestinian leadership, meanwhile, "strongly condemned the suicide attack" and called on President Bush to send Mideast envoy Anthony Zinni back to the region. However, Bush has been sharply critical of Arafat, and Cheney suggested on "Fox News Sunday" that Zinni will not return soon.

"At this stage, we need to see some positive signs that his return would do some good. And that means we've got to see some positive results out of Arafat," Cheney said.