HIGHLIGHTS: Islamic Jihad Claims Responsibility||Many of the Passengers Were Occupation Soldiers||PA Condemns Attack||Occupation Army Sweeps Back Into Jenin & Hebron|| STORY: A Palestinian bomber attacker detonated a powerful car bomb Wednesday morning alongside a crowded bus in northern Israel, killing at least 16 people and wounding more than about 30.

Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was timed to mark the 35th anniversary of the Six-Day War.

The bombing occurred on the Nahal Irron (Wadi Ara) Highway, right next to Megiddo jail, and not far from the northern town of Afula.

National Police Chief Insp.-Gen. Shlomo Aharonishki said a car with a powerful bomb "pulled up next to the bus and detonated," as the bus passed by the prison. He estimated there were 45-50 casualties.

"It is one of the worst attacks we have sustained [in the last 20 months] from the standpoint of casualties," Aharoniski said.

Police said at least 16 people were killed, and more than 30 wounded.

Earlier Israel Radio estimated the death toll at 18.

A rescue worker told the radio it was difficult to count the casualties because bodies were blown to pieces and burned.

The Egged bus number 830, had left the Tel Aviv central bus station early this morning, bound for Tiberias, a town on Lake Kinneret.

Witness accounts indicated that a suicide bomber was in the exploding car. They reported seeing a car pull alongside the bus just before the blast occurred.

According to one report, the bomber had been following another bus which was less full, and apparently decided to pull up alongside the 830 bus, which was crowded with passengers, many of them soldiers. He then detonated the very large explosive device in his car.

The explosion, using a method reminiscent of those perpetrated by Hizbullah against the IDF in south Lebanon, blew the bus over and set it ablaze. Virtually all of those on board were killed or wounding, according to rescue personnel at the scene.

The car was totally destroyed. Police said the blast set off two explosions, first the car then the bus engine.

All that remained of the bus was a blackened shell with debris scattered over a radius of several dozen meters. (Read photo Caption)

Three of the wounded in Haemek Hospital were reported in critical condition and 10 sustained light to moderate wounds.

The remainder were lightly hurt, hospital officials said.

Firefighters rushed to the scene to extinguish the blaze ignited by the blast, which left the bus in charred ruins on the side of the road.

A leader of Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it marked the 35th anniversary of the Six-Day War, when the Israeli Occupation Army captured the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The Palestinian Authority condemned the attack saying it did not serve Palestinian national interests. A statement also suggested that a group outside the territories was responsible for staging the attack in an effort to torpedo diplomatic efforts to restart peace talks.

Reports speculated that the bomber came from the Jenin area in the West Bank. Jenin, the site of the fiercest battles of Operation Defensive Shield, is close to the scene of the attack. It is an Islamic Jihad stronghold, and has been described as a breeding ground for bombers.

After Wednesday's attack, Israeli sources confirmed that occupation troops were continuing security operations launched earlier this week in Jenin.

Occupation Army sweeps of other West Bank areas were also under way, including the area of Hebron, Palestinian sources told the Itim news agency.

The bombing followed a warning issued Tuesday by the head of military intelligence that Hizbullah and Palestinian Resistance were planning a "mega-attack" inside Israel.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon convened the security cabinet after the attack to discuss the worsening situation.

A major security alert was declared and security measures were heightened in the adjacent Sharon district amid warnings that Resistance men would stage more attacks.

ISRAELI TANKS ROLL BACK INTO JENIN

Israeli tanks rolled into the West Bank town of Jenin today, hours after the suicide bombing at the Megiddo junction in which 16 Israelis were killed, Palestinian security officials say.

The officials said two dozen armored vehicles drove into Jenin from three directions.

In addition, two attack helicopters fired machine guns toward one neighborhood, witnesses said. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

In expectation of an Israeli incursion, Jenin residents quickly left public areas and sought shelter in their homes.

Jenin, a militant stronghold, has been the target of repeated Israeli raids in recent months, including a brief incursion Monday.

During Israel's six-week military offensive against Palestinian militias, which ended last month, the Jenin refugee camp adjacent to the town was the scene of the fiercest fighting.

PHOTO CAPTION

An Israeli rescue worker looks at the remains of a civilian car which earlier blew up along side a passenger bus (in background), killing at least 16 people and wounding over 40 at a busy road junction near the ruins of Megiddo June 5, 2002. The attack marked a change in tactics by militant groups, whose usual method in the past has been to send bombers with less powerful explosive belts strapped to their own bodies. (Baz Ratner/Reuters)