It's "balls to the wall" now. The Post reports that the murderer had been one of the "prisoners of freedom" (as President Abbas referred to them) released by Israel.
The suicide bomber was identified as 20-year-old Hassan Abu Zeid, from the West Bank village of Kabatiya. He reportedly served time in an Israeli prison, but was released because he was classified as not having blood on his hands.
Sharon: Israel to launch 'broad, non-stop' operations
david rudge and jpost staff, THE JERUSALEM POST Oct. 27, 2005
In the wake of Wednesday's suicide bombing in Hadera, which claimed the lives of five Israelis, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told the media that Israel would launch a "broad, non-stop" operation against Palestinian terror groups.
"Yesterday we witnessed a serious terror attack," Sharon said Thursday morning at the start of a meeting with visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. "Unfortunately, the Palestinian Authority isn't taking a single serious step to fight terror. We are unwilling to tolerate, under any circumstances, the continuation of terror. Therefore, our operational activity will be broad and non-stop until we bring about the end of the terror."
Overnight Wednesday, Sharon and Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz decided to clamp down on Islamic Jihad, which claimed responsibility for the attack.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said there was no time limit to the offensive, which will continue until the group's infrastructure is eliminated or the Palestinian Authority begins to act against terrorist groups.
"Islamic Jihad has declared war on every Israeli civilian and of course we're 100 percent entitled to take the appropriate action to defend our civilians," Regev said.
In addition to preparing a ground offensive, a full closure was imposed Thursday morning on Judea and Samaria, while the Karni and Erez crossings in the Gaza Strip, which were re-opened on Wednesday morning, shut their gates.
The IAF will also continue to launch strikes against Kassam launch sites in Gaza.
Meanwhile, in the West Bank, three Islamic Jihad operatives were arrested in the northern city of Jenin, not far from Kabatya, the terrorist's hometown. Other operatives were arrested in Tulkarm, and Hamas operatives were also detained in the southern West Bank city of Hebron.
Of the dozens who were wounded in the attack, 20 were still hospitalized on Thursday morning, five of them in serious condition.
The fatalities were identified last night as Michael Kaufman, 68, Yaakov Rahmani, 68, and Perhia Mahlouf, 53, of Hadera; Sabiha Nissim, 66, of Moshav Ahituv, and Jamil Ka'adan, 48, of Baka al-Gharbiya.
The Islamic Jihad said the attack was in retaliation for the killing by IDF troops of the organization's top military commander, Luay Sa'adi, and one of his aides in Tulkarm on Monday.
Senior security officials, however, said that the bombing had probably been prepared long in advance and that it was known beforehand that Sa'adi had been planning an attack inside Israel.
A senior official in the Prime Minister's Office rejected Palestinian claims that it was a revenge attack, saying it was part of a "premeditated strategy of terror" adopted by the Palestinian terror organizations and supported by Iran, Syria and Hizbullah.
The official said that the attack fit intelligence assessments that the disengagement from Gaza would be followed by increased attempts to carry out attacks from Judea and Samaria. He slammed the PA for not taking any effective action to stop the terrorism.
Mofaz, who returned Wednesday afternoon from a high profile meeting in Cairo with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, called a meeting of security chiefs immediately upon his arrival.
An official in the Prime Minister's Office said there would be a continuation of sustained operations throughout Judea and Samaria aimed at "flushing out the terrorists."
"The arrests and IDF actions that we have been taking will be intensified," the official said. "If we need to carry out door-to-door searches in Jenin and Tulkarm, then we will do so. If not, then northern Samaria could turn into Iraq."
What was surprising was the public support by some members of Fatah's Aksa Martyrs Brigades for the bombing and their stated intention to also carry out attacks inside Israel in response to every initiated action by the IDF in the territories.
The statements made live in front of the world media were in direct contrast to the condemnation of the attack by PA leaders. PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas condemned the suicide attack, saying in a statement, "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.
The suicide bomber was identified as 20-year-old Hassan Abu Zeid, from the West Bank village of Kabatiya. He reportedly served time in an Israeli prison, but was released because he was classified as not having blood on his hands. Police and the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) are focusing on how he entered Israel and managed to reach the market.
Initially, it was reported that the bomber may have been a Palestinian woman, but police said forensic evidence at the scene indicated that the attack was perpetrated by a young man.
The bomber blew himself up at 3:35 p.m. while standing in a queue of people outside the popular Barzilai felafel stand, which has been run by the same family at the heart of the city's market for some 60 years.
A local shop owner said he heard the explosion and then went outside to offer assistance, but within minutes emergency services were already at the scene.
He said parts of bodies had been blown several meters away from the scene of the explosion. The blast wrecked parts of the stand and neighboring stores, as well as eucalyptus trees in the area.
Hadera Mayor Haim Avitan was leaving the municipality building at the time of the explosion. "I thought at first that it was a sonic boom, but I was told it was a terrorist attack," said Avitan, who went to the scene moments after being informed.
"It really looked like a scene after a pogrom, but the security forces reached the area within minutes and our wardens with their help ensured that the roads were kept clear to evacuate the casualties."
Apart from the suicide bomber, four people were killed at the scene and another who was critically wounded died on the operating table at Hadera's Hillel Yaffe Hospital. Two people suffering from serious injuries were transferred to Kfar Saba's Meir Hospital and Sheba Hospital at Tel Hashomer.
Among the casualties was one of the owners of the felafel stand, who had taken over from his brother who had been there from the morning, as well as a worker and some customers.
According to reports, the bomb contained some five kilograms of explosives, as well as scores of metal balls and nails to maximize casualties.
Keren Davido, a local resident, told reporters that if the attacker had struck in the morning, the overall casualty total would have been much higher.
Eyewitnesses reported having seen a car with two Arabs inside that drove away from the market area shortly before the blast. Police set up roadblocks in the vicinity after the attack and said that all reports were being thoroughly investigated.
The suicide bombing could also have been timed to coincide with the anniversary of the killing 10 years ago in Malta, allegedly by Mossad agents, of Islamic Jihad founder Fathi Shaki.
Security sources maintained, however, that organizations such as the Islamic Jihad, funded directly by Iran and which received some of its orders from its leadership in Syria, always had some anniversary to use as a pretext for attacks.
Police stressed that there were general alerts about pending terror attacks, especially in the wake of the killing of Sa'adi which had led to Kassam rocket fire on Sderot and western Negev communities on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The IDF responded to that rocket fire with artillery fire towards open spaces in the Gaza Strip as well as overflights by IAF warplanes that broke the sound barrier.
There were no reports of any direct action against specific targets.
This article can also be read at jpost.com |
