ARAB AFFAIRS - May 25 - Suicide Bombings.

About 65 people are injured, including children, when a stolen car packed with explosives rams a bus on a busy street in Hadera (central Israel), killing the two bombers. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility. Separately, Hamas claimed responsibility for the morning suicide attack in Gaza, where a driver apparently tried to hit a convoy of Jewish settlers' vehicles being escorted by the Israeli military. The vehicle ended up exploding near an army post. (The attacks come ahead of a round of shuttle diplomacy expected to start on May 26 by the US Ambassador to Jordan William Burns). Reacted to the bombings, PM Sharon said Israel "would not sit around with our arms folded, but we have to wait a few days to an opportunity for Arafat to call a ceasefire". Sharon's spokesman Raanan Gissin added: "Time and patience are running out".