Feb. 14, 2001, 9:06PM
Bus driver `just like all of us here´
Family says anger caused man to drive into crowd of Israelis
Associated Press

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- In a rutted street filled with windblown
plastic bags and jabbering children, bus driver Khalil Abu Olbeh spoke
of his anger over the deaths of young Palestinians.

Heavy shooting in the southern Gaza Strip the past few days had left him
particularly aggrieved. But to friends and relatives, his emotions were
in tune with the rest of the neighborhood, and nothing seemed amiss with
the 35-year-old father of five.

"We talked on the street Tuesday night, just like we do every night,"
said Abdullah Azhaq, a neighbor of 20 years. "He was very upset -- just
like all of us here."

"God will save us," Abu Olbeh told his neighbor, before retiring to the
large cinderblock house he shares with his mother and his brother's
family in the overcrowded Sheik Radwan neighborhood, where the walls are
covered with anti-Israeli graffiti.

Abu Olbeh rose at 2 a.m. Wednesday -- his usual wake-up time -- for his
journey to the Erez border crossing with Israel. He then drove fellow
Palestinian laborers to their jobs in Israel before dawn.

After dropping off his passengers, Abu Olbeh rammed his bus into a bus
stop packed with Israeli soldiers and civilians south of Tel Aviv,
killing eight and injuring 20.

Abu Olbeh fled in the bus, chased by police for more than 20 miles
before plowing into a truck at a traffic light. Police also fired at Abu
Olbeh, who was hit and later had his leg amputated at an Israeli
hospital.

Abu Olbeh's brother, Hussein, said he was taken by surprise by his
brother's actions, but suggested it may have been revenge for Israel's
tough policies during five months of Israeli-Palestinian fighting.

"The terrible situation we are living through ... every day there are
killings and assassinations by Israeli authorities," he said. "Of course
all of this can get to a person and of course could be a major reason
for someone to carry out such an act."

Hussein Abu Olbeh said his brother had no ties to the Islamic militant
group Hamas, which claimed responsibility in a phone call to Israel
radio's Arabic service, or to Tanzim, the armed group linked to
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction.

After news of the attack spread, curious neighbors filled Khalil Abu
Olbeh's street and dozens of relatives gathered inside the house.

Facing the crowd, one of Abu Olbeh's sons, 8-year-old Muhammad, silently
held up a photograph of his father.

Abu Olbeh has worked for Israel's Egged bus company for five years and
had undergone repeated security checks by Israel's Shin Bet security
agency.
His work permit was renewed by the Shin Bet two weeks ago, according to
Israeli security sources.

For the past four months, Abu Olbeh had been unemployed because of
Israel's closure of the Palestinian areas, which kept more than 100,000
Palestinians from their jobs in Israel.

He worked as a taxi driver in Gaza, but it brought in little money.
He welcomed the chance to return to his regular job as a bus driver, his
friends said.

"He didn't complain about the way he was treated at his job," said
Azhaq, the neighbor.

Israeli authorities said they were certain that Abu Olbeh's actions were
deliberate. But Palestinians are deeply suspicious about any information
coming out of Israel, and in the street, some said they thought it could
have been an accident.

Many Palestinians also are extremely cynical about Mideast peace
efforts, seeing it as an attempt by Israel and the United States to
pacify the Palestinians without improving their lot.

"To Khalil, and to all of us, the talk is nothing but lies," said Azhaq,
65, a retired hospital worker. "We often talked about this. No one on
this street believed in the peace talks."

Before night fell Wednesday, Abu Olbeh's family and relatives had left
their home, fearing a possible Israeli reprisal attack, and neighbors
wouldn't say where they had gone.

"Since I live next door, I don't feel safe either," said Azhaq.