Suicide bombing kills 5 in Israel
Middle East Desk Report
HADERA (Israel)—A Palestinian suicide bomber standing in line at a
crowded falafel stand blew himself up Wednesday in this central Israeli
town, killing five people, wounding 21 and eroding hopes that Israel’s
Gaza pullout would revive peace talks.
Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the deadliest attack in Israel
in more than three months, with the Iranian-backed group saying it was
in retaliation for the killing of a top militant leader by Israeli
troops earlier this week.
Wednesday also marked the 10th anniversary of the assassination of
Islamic Jihad chief Fathi Shekaki outside a Malta hotel in a mission
widely attributed to Israel.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev reacted to the bombing by citing
statements from hard-line Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that
Israel should be “wiped off the map” and from Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar
in Gaza reiterating that group’s commitment to violent struggle.
“It appears the problem with these extremists is that they followed
through on their violent declarations with violent actions,” Regev told
newsmen.
Ambulances rushed to the scene after the explosion at the falafel stand,
which was in an open air market next to the central bus station.
Rescuers treated the wounded in a nearby field.
The dead were sprawled on the ground amid scattered fruit and wrecked
cars. Shards of glass and blood covered the sidewalk as rescuers moved
back bystanders to begin collecting remains of the dead.
“Body parts reached all the way until my apartment building. The damage
is really great,” witness Eidan Akiva told Channel Ten TV, saying he
lived 100 yards from the blast.
“All the stalls alongside just fell apart. The windows are all broken.
It looks like a war was here,” he said. “This is a very crowded place,
very central place. We never expected that this would happen. We thought
our world was good but apparently we were wrong”.
The market was bustling a day after being closed for the Jewish holiday
of Simchat Torah.
Dov Lotzky, a police spokesman, said the bomber was standing in line at
the felafel stand when he detonated the explosives.
Israeli police said five people were killed in addition to the suicide
bomber. The Magen David Adom rescue service said six people suffered
serious wounds and another 15 were injured lightly.
The bomber was identified as Hassan Abu Zeid, 20, of the West Bank town
of Qabatiyeh, according to residents who heard his name announced on a
bullhorn.
Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip last month has raised hopes for
a return to Mideast peacemaking after five years of bloodshed. However,
the sides have failed to capitalize on the pullout’s momentum, and
Wednesday’s bombing appeared to hurt prospects for a return to talks.
Islamic Jihad told the AP in a phone call that the bombing was to avenge
the death of Luay Saadi, leader of the group’s military wing in the West
Bank. Saadi was killed in a shootout with Israeli soldiers closing in on
his hideout in the Tulkarem refugee camp Monday.
Islamic Jihad has been blamed for each of the four suicide bombings
since the cease-fire in February. The group signed on to the original
truce, and says each of its attacks have been responses to specific
Israeli actions.
“It is a natural retaliation for the Israeli crimes committed against
our people, namely the crime against Luay Saadi,” Islamic Jihad
spokesman Khader Habib told the AP. “The Islamic Jihad movement was
committed to the truce, and is still committed to the truce, but this
truce should be mutual. We cannot tolerate a one-sided truce”.
Iran has long supplied Islamic Jihad with support and training through
proxies among Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas, and Israel has accused that
country of trying to scuttle the current truce.
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas condemned the attack, saying it “harms
Palestinian interests and could widen the cycle of violence, chaos,
extremism and bloodshed”.
“It is not permitted for anyone to take the law into their hands,” he
added.
In an earlier speech to parliament, he had lashed out at the militants,
saying they had no right to violate the cease-fire selectively.
The blast came hours after an Israeli aircraft fired a missile into a
field in northern Gaza in response to Palestinian rocket fire on an
Israeli border town. The Islamic Jihad group also claimed responsibility
for firing some of the rockets, saying it was avenging Saadi’s killing.
Since Palestinian militant groups agreed to a cease-fire, the level of
violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has dropped sharply despite
periodic flareups.
Hadera, located between Tel Aviv and the northern city of Haifa, is
flanked to the east by Israel’s West Bank separation barrier, which is
designed to keep out suicide bombers. It was not immediately clear how
the assailants got around it.
The last suicide bombing in Israel, on Aug. 28 in the southern Israeli
city of Beersheba, killed only the bomber. Before that, a July 12
suicide blast at a shopping mall in the coastal town of Netanya killed
five Israelis.
Hadera has also had its share of attacks. In January 2002, a Palestinian
tossed hand grenades into a wedding celebration, killing five people and
wounding more than 30. In November 2001, a Palestinian suicide bomber
blew himself up on a bus in Hadera, killing himself and three Israeli
passengers. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for that blast. |
