At Least 3 Killed in Suicide Attack at Carmel Market in Tel Aviv
At least three people were killed and dozens were injured in a suicide bombing at the crowded Carmel Market in central Tel Aviv today, HA'ARETZ reported. The blast went off at 11:15 A.M. near a dairy shop close to the intersection of Rambam and Hacarmel streets. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine claimed responsibility for the attack. The suicide bomber was identified as Amar Alfar, 16, from Askar refugee camp in the West Bank city of Nablus. Samira Abdullah, 45, Alfar's mother, said the people who had sent her son to Tel Aviv were wrong to exploit someone too young to understand the implications of his act. "It's immoral to send someone so young," she said. "They should have sent an adult who understands the meaning of his deeds."
Security officials said the bomber arrived with the explosives Sunday night at Abu Dis in East Jerusalem and was planning to carry out the attack in the capital. However, they said he probably decided to travel to Tel Aviv instead because of strict security at crowded areas in Jerusalem.
The Magen David Adom ambulance service said that at least 32 people had been wounded in the attack and evacuated to Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv, Wolfson Medical Center in Holon and Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer. The dead were identified as two women and a man, apparently in their 20s.
Doctors at Ichilov were treating one person who sustained critical injuries, four in serious condition and one in moderate-to-serious condition. No children were among the wounded.
IDF Prevents Terrorist Infiltration near Kfar Darom
Israel Defense Forces soldiers thwarted an attempted infiltration into Kfar Darom in the central Gaza Strip Sunday evening, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. Security forces spotted a group of armed Palestinians approaching the Jewish community and trying to avoid detection by using Palestinian civilian houses located nearby, shrubs and hothouses as cover. An intense gun battle ensued in which two of the gunmen were killed. A third gunman managed to escape. Security forces continued searching the area for additional perpetrators. No soldiers were wounded in the battle.
Meanwhile, the Palestinians have already succeeded in smuggling at least five anti-aircraft missiles into the Gaza Strip, Israel Security Agency head Avi Dichter told the Cabinet on Sunday. Commenting on the disengagement plan Dichter said that a "desertion of the Philadelphi route will lead to an increase in the number of sophisticated arms" smuggled into Gaza. The Philadelphi route is a 25-meter-wide path that lies along the Egypt-Gaza border. Palestinian arms-smugglers frequently dig tunnels beneath the route to smuggle arms from Egypt into Gaza.
Aide Says Arafat Will Be Unable to Re-Assume Leadership
In spite of the conflicting reports coming out of the Paris hospital where Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat is being treated, his close associates have already admitted that even if he overcomes his illness, he would not be able to assume his former position, MA'ARIV reported. One of Arafat's advisors, Imad Shakur, admitted this morning that it was likely that the Palestinian leader suffered irreversible damage as a result of his illness. "The sick Arafat is not the same Arafat we knew a week ago", Shakur said. "Even if he returns, and I hope he does, he will not be the same. Not to us, not to Israel and not to himself."
Meanwhile, the head of the research department of IDF intelligence, Brig. Gen. Yossi Kuperwaser, told members of the Knesset's Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee this morning that Arafat was very ill. According to Kuperwaser, he either has a severe viral disease or cancer.
According to Paris hospital officials, an announcement regarding Arafat's health will be available Tuesday.
In other news, more than 20 wanted terrorists who found refuge in Arafat's Mukata in Ramallah took advantage of the unrest, which broke out during the Palestinian leader's illness, and escaped. Last Friday, a senior defense official said, "An IDF operation in the Mukata is out of the question at this stage in spite of Arafat's departure to Paris. It is a highly sensitive issue". According to the official, the compound is constantly under military surveillance since wanted terrorists are always in motion, whether trying to escape or seek refuge.
Knesset Opens Debate on Key Evacuation and Compensation Bill
The Knesset opened a debate Monday on the Evacuation and Compensation Bill, which would provide legal and financial underpinnings to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan, HA'ARETZ reported. Foes of the disengagement view the bill as a crucial test, saying that if the law fails in the Knesset, the pullout plan as a whole will fail.
If passed, the law would offer monetary compensation for settlers evacuated from the 21 settlements of the Gaza Strip, and four enclaves in the northern West Bank. The law also specifies a penalty of up to three years imprisonment for settlers who actively interfere with the planned evacuation.
The "rebel" faction of Sharon's Likud, which opposes the disengagement, appeared today to be divided over its vote on the Evacuation and Compensation bill. The faction has been in disarray after a vote last week over the principle of disengagement. Sharon easily carried the vote, causing a number of Likud disengagement opponents to modify their stance in favor of calls for party unity.
The Labor Party will back the Evacuation and Compensation Bill and Labor members of the Knesset Finance Committee will back plans for early compensation payments for those settlers being evacuated.
Other News in Brief
* Prime Minister Ariel Sharon approved a decision to offer $10 million reward for significant information on the fate of air force navigator Ron Arad, who was shot down over Lebanon 18 years ago, Israel Radio, KOL YISRAEL, reported. A committee set up two years ago recommended the reward, but the defense authorities rejected the idea until recently. An official announcement of the reward will be published December 1st.
Economic & High-Tech News
* A Central Bank survey finds that the third quarter of 2004 was the fifth straight quarter of expanding activity, THEMARKER.COM reported. The Central Bank noted that increased activity characterized all the main sectors with the exception of construction. However, most sectors expected moderation in the trend, with slowing domestic growth and exports in the next quarter.
* Makhteshim Agan Industries announced another generic approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for its bug killer, Lambda Cyhalothrin, THEMARKER.COM reported. The insecticide is used primarily on cotton, corn, sunflowers, wheat and vegetable crops, Makhteshim Agan said. Makhteshim Agan will be the first generic producer to market the pesticide in the U.S. market, which could generate sales of $80 million a year.
[Today's Israel Line was prepared by Victor Chemtob at the Consulate General of Israel in New York.]