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PALESTINIAN SUICIDE BOMBER KILLS SIX; WOUNDS MORE THEN 70
A Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance to the
Hasharon shopping mall in the center of the coastal town of Netanya this
morning, HA'ARETZ reported. Six people were killed in the blast. More than
70 people were reported injured in the attack, several of them critically.
The wounded were evacuated to Netanya's Laniado Hospital, to the Hillel
Yaffeh Medical Center in the neighboring town of Hadera and to Meir Hospital
in Kfar Sava.
Witnesses said that the bomber, wearing a heavy blue coat over the
explosive device that was strapped to his waist, tried to enter the mall,
but blew himself up when he was blocked by one of the security guards at the
entrance. There was a line of people waiting to enter the mall at the time.
Police commander, Major General Aharon Franko, confirmed they received a
report about the movements of the terrorist shortly before the explosion
took place. The police sent a patrol car to the site, but it did not reach
the scene in time. Police sealed the area and immediately began a search to
ensure there were no further explosive devices in the area. There have been
15 bomb attacks or attempted attacks in the Sharon area, Israel's central
coastal region, since the beginning of the year. Most of the bombs were
safely detonated by police sappers.
A senior Palestinian security official said the bomber was 21-year-old
Mahmoud Ahmed Marmash, a member of the militant Islamic group Hamas from the
West Bank town of Tulkarm. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack at a
rally in Gaza today.
In a separate incident today an Israeli civilian was killed and his mother
was seriously wounded when Palestinian gunmen opened fire on their car near
the West Bank settlement of Neve Tzuf, north of Ramallah. The woman was
taken to the Tel Hashomer hospital in Tel Aviv.
Meanwhile, according to HAARETZ-ON-LINE, Israel responded to the Netanya
bombing attack today hitting Palestinian targets in the West Bank cities of
Ramallah and Nablus. The Israel Air Forces bombed a Palestinian police
compound, targeting the prison and a building housing special forces. In
Ramallah, the IAF fired on a building belonging to the Force 17 elite unit.
BEIT JALA RESIDENTS CONDEMN TANZIM
Residents of the Palestinian controlled town of Beit Jala are voicing
their opposition to armed Fatah and Tanzim snipers using the town's
buildings to shoot at civilians living in the Jerusalem neighborhood of
Gilo, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. Two week ago, the residents circulated a
leaflet with names of Tanzim gunmen who act against Israel. According to an
Israeli security official, the image of the Tanzim in Beit Jala changed from
freedom fighters to racketeers and they are now the focus of harsh criticism
by Beit Jalla residents. The security official also said that an
investigation is underway to find whether Tanzim activists are confiscating
and selling food distributed by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency
(UNWRA) to the civilians of Beit Jala.
Referring to a gun battle between the Tanzim and Israel Defense Forces
soldiers at the beginning of the week in which four Israeli civilians were
wounded, the official said that the Tanzim, which has no ideology, will not
survive in Beit Jala. "Terror cannot thrive when it is not supported by the
local population," he said.
FOREIGN JOURNALISTS COMPLAIN OF PALESTINIAN PRESSURE
A number of foreign journalists working in Israel have complained that
Palestinian journalists and associations related to the Palestinian
Authority have applied pressure on them to retract articles criticizing the
PA, HA'ARETZ Reported.
Earlier in the week, the Palestinian Media Center (PMC) sent a letter via
e-mail to hundreds of foreign journalists working in the region criticizing
NBC's Israel correspondent Martin Fletcher for a report he did on the
Palestinian Authority's use of children for propaganda purposes.
Fletcher reported on a Palestinian television commercial, which asks
Palestinian youth to "drop their toys, pick up rocks, and do battle with
Israel." The report also covered militant youth camps, which train young
Palestinian children for combat with Israel and teach them, according to
Fletcher, "the greatest glory is to become a martyr."
U.S. CONGRESS VOTES TO STOP MILITARY AID TO LEBANON
The United States Congress passed a bill on Wednesday calling on the
administration to end military aid to Lebanon, HA'ARETZ, reported. The U.S.
gives an annual sum of $625,000 of military aid to Lebanon. The bill states
that the aid should only be resumed on the condition that the Lebanese army
be redeployed along the boarder with Israel within six months to ensure
safety and calm in the area. The bill is now awaiting approval in the
Senate.
According to Congressman Tom Lantos (D-California), who intiated the bill,
Hizbullah operates from within Lebanon and has free range to commit terror
attacks and kidnappings near the border.
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