Suicide bombers strike Israel

JERUSALEM -- Two suicide bombers blew themselves up in a crowded pedestrian mall in downtown Jerusalem late Saturday, causing dozens of casualties, city police said.

Paramedics said at least one person was killed, and witnesses said they saw several bodies lying on the ground.

"There were lots of limbs and dead bodies," said Michael Perry, 37, who ran out of a bar along the Ben Yehuda pedestrian mall after hearing the back-to-back blasts just before midnight. "I saw three dead and what looked like the remains of the suicide bomber. It was just a lump of something," Perry said.

Shortly after the suicide bombings, an explosion went off in a car parked near the mall, said Police Chief Mickey Levy. Apparently no one was hurt in that explosion.

Israel radio, quoting paramedics, said about 90 people were hurt in the blast.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

However, the militant Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups have threatened to avenge Israel's targeted killing in November of Mahmoud Abu Hanoud, the leader of the Hamas military wing in the West Bank. Abu Hanoud was killed in an Israeli missile attack.

The suicide bombings came only two days after an Islamic Jihad militant blew himself up on an Israeli bus, killing three passengers and himself.

The attacks come at a time when a senior U.S. envoy, retired Marine Corps Gen. Anthony Zinni, is trying to secure a cease-fire.