Blast Outside Israeli School a Threat to U.S. Peace Drive
JERUSALEM — A car bomb that exploded Wednesday outside a high school in the coastal city of Netanya caused no serious injuries but threatened to unravel a newborn U.S. effort to put a lid on eight months of Palestinian-Israeli violence.
Students at the Ort technical high school had finished an exam and left just 10 minutes before the bomb went off in front of the building, sending pieces of metal flying in all directions.
Hospital officials said at least six people were treated for shock and hearing problems caused by the blast. Police said some of those injured were youths, although none were students at the school.
The radical Palestinian group Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the blast.
Netanya, on Israel’s coast north of Tel Aviv, is just nine miles from the West Bank and is a frequent target for Palestinian bombers. On May 18, a suicide bomber struck a mall there, killing himself and five Israelis.
The latest bombing, on the day two Israelis killed in a Palestinian drive-by shooting attack Tuesday were buried, darkened the atmosphere around the renewed U.S. effort to quell the violence.
Israeli and Palestinian security commanders met in the Gaza Strip late Wednesday for the second time this week in an effort to improve security coordination.
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