16 Israelis killed in Jerusalem Bus Blast

The attack came a day after a senior Hamas leader survived an Israeli assassination attempt in the Gaza Strip which claimed the lives of two other Palestinians and sparked calls for bloody revenge by the resistance movement.

The bomber reportedly stepped on a bus when it was stopped at a major intersection, near the entrance of a shopping mall.

The street, west Jerusalem’s main thoroughfare, has been by hit several Palestinian attacks since the start of the intifada, or uprising, against Israeli occupation in September 2000.

There was no immediate claim for the Jerusalem blast but senior Hamas leader Abdul Aziz al-Rantissi, who had escaped the helicopter missile attacks with light wounds, vowed from his hospital bed "not to leave one Jew in Palestine".

"Israel is targeting Palestinian civilians, so Israeli civilians should be targeted. From now on all Israeli people are targets," said the spiritual leader of Hamas, Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, on Tuesday.

The attack also comes a week after Israel and the Palestinians affirmed their commitment to a U.S.-backed peace roadmap to end the 32 months of bloodshed at a summit at Aqaba, Jordan.

Palestinian prime minister Mahmud Abbas vowed at the summit to end the armed uprising against Israeli occupation, but was rebuffed by resistance groups, including Hamas.

The Jerusalem attack was vehemently condemned by U.S. President George W. Bush.

The explosion came one day after Israeli helicopters dropped seven rocket on a vehicle carrying Ismail Rantissi, the public face of the Islamic resistance movement Hamas.

Rantissi jumped out of the car in time, with shrapnel injuries in his arm, leg ands chest.

Hamas vowed on Tuesday, June 10, to revenge for the targeting of Rantissi and the killing of nine Palestinians in other separate attacks hours afterwards.

Bush gave a measured condemnation of the attack on Rantissi, saying he was “deeply troubled” by the news.

Israeli police in occupied Jerusalem issued many warnings against Palestinian attacks, and they managed to abort two attacks against Israeli targets, a correspondent of the Israeli television told Al-Jazeera.