A suicide bomber blew himself up on a crowded Jerusalem bus yesterday morning, killing at least eight people and wounding 59.

　　Israel said the attack proved the need for the disputed separation barrier it is building.

　　The attack came just a day before the International Court of Justice at the Hague was to begin hearings on the barrier, which Israel says is critical to keeping out bombers that have killed hundreds of Israelis in more than three years of violence.

　　The Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a militant group loosely affiliated with Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, claimed responsibility for the attack and identified the bomber as Mohammed Zool, 23, from the village of Hussan near Bethlehem.

　　Soon after the bombing, Israeli troops sealed off Bethlehem and Palestinian police left their posts in the town, Palestinian security sources said.

　　The huge blast went off about 8:30am during morning rush hour as the bus drove past a gas station in downtown Jerusalem.

　　"It was like an earthquake," Ora Yairov, who was at the gas station during the explosion, told Channel One television.

　　"The station was filled with shattered glass and pieces of flesh."

　　The explosion ripped apart the back of the green bus and scattered body parts and shattered glass across a two-block radius. The windows were blown out, the windscreen cracked and the roof was raised.

　　"I felt blood on my head. I saw terrible things. I tried not to look," said Moshe Salama, a 56-year-old alternative healer who was on the bus.

　　The left lens of his glasses was cracked where it was hit by a piece of shrapnel.

　　An hour after the blast, bodies still lay on the sidewalk.

　　Rescue workers wrapped them in white sheets and put body parts in bags.

　　Security forces stood on the roof of the nearby gas station watching the crowd. Sniffer dogs were led around the scene.

　　Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz called a meeting with top security officials for last night to discuss possible responses to the attack.

　　Israeli officials said the attack never would have happened had the section of the barrier being built around Jerusalem been completed.

　　"This attack proves just how urgent it is to build the fence," Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said. "It is a clear preventive measure. We will continue building it because it saves lives."

　　The Palestinians say the barrier - one-third of which has been built - amounts to a land grab because it is to dip deep into the West Bank in some areas, and disrupts the lives of tens of thousands of Palestinians.

　　Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia condemned yesterday's bombing.

　　In a statement, he called for "an immediate halt to these actions," which he said gave Israel an excuse to continue building the barrier and to carry out raids against militants.

　　Yesterday's bombing was the first since a suicide bomber blew himself up on a bus near Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's house on January 29, killing 11 passengers.

　　The bombing yesterday was only a few blocks from that blast.

　　The attack came as Israeli workers started removing a section of the West Bank separation barrier - about 8 kilometers of fencing, razor wire and trenches - that has isolated the Palestinian town of Baka al-Sharkia from the rest of the West Bank for more than a year. The move appeared aimed at softening criticism ahead of the court hearing.

　　(The Associated Press)