Attack in Palestine
Hammy Hamas | 29.01.2007 13:57
A Palestinian suicide bomber attacked a bakery in this southern Israeli resort town on Monday, killing himself and three people, police said. It was the first suicide bombing in Israel in nine months and the first ever to hit Eilat, Israel's southernmost city.
A spokesman for Hamas, the radical Islamic group that controls the Palestinian parliament and Cabinet, praised the bombing as a "natural response" to Israeli policies -- a position likely to complicate the group's efforts to end a crippling aid boycott imposed by the international community.
Two Palestinian militant groups, Islamic Jihad and the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, claimed joint responsibility for the attack.
Both groups said the attack was meant to help bring an end to weeks of Palestinian infighting that has killed more than 60 people in the Gaza Strip since December.
Gunmen from Hamas and the rival Fatah Party battled each other across the Gaza Strip on Monday, attacking security compounds, knocking out an electrical transformer and kidnapping several local commanders. Four people were killed.
"The operation has a clear message to the Palestinian rivals. It is necessary to end the infighting and point the guns toward the occupation that has hurt the Palestinian people," a posting on the Islamic Jihad Web site said.
The group identified the bomber as Mohammed Saksak, 21, of Gaza City, after earlier saying he came from the West Bank. The Palestinian Web site Ramattan quoted Saksak's family as saying he had left their home three days ago and not returned.
Witnesses said the bomber stood out because he was wearing a long winter coat on a warm, sunny day when he struck the small bakery in a residential neighborhood. Police said the bomb was in a bag he was carrying rather than an explosives belt often used in past suicide attacks.
"It was very hot, very hot. He had a coat on and it didn't look right to me. I thought to myself, 'What's that idiot dressed like that for?' A couple of seconds later I heard a massive explosion," Benny Mazgini, 45, told Israel Radio.
Shattered glass, body parts and blood-splattered pastries were visible on the sidewalk outside, alongside bread trays scattered by the blast.
"It was awful -- there was smoke, pieces of flesh all over the place," Mazgini said.
The attack was the second suicide bombing in Israel since Hamas won Palestinian parliamentary elections last January. The group came under heavy criticism for making statements in support of a suicide bombing in a Tel Aviv restaurant shortly after it took power.
Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza, called Monday's attack a "natural response" to Israeli military policies in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as well as its ongoing boycott of the Hamas-led Palestinian government. "So long as there is occupation, resistance is legitimate," he said.
He also said attacks on Israel were preferable to the recent bout of Palestinian infighting in Gaza between his group and the more moderate Fatah Party of President Mahmoud Abbas. "The right thing is for Fatah weapons to be directed toward the occupation not toward Hamas," Barhoum said.
An Israeli spokesman reacted cautiously to the initial reports of an attack, but hinted at a potentially tough response.
"At this point it's unclear what the origin of the terror attack is," said David Baker, an official in Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office. "Israel as a nation is continually confronting terror threats. Israel is always on guard against such attacks and we are compelled to continue to do so."
It was not clear if Monday's attack would derail a November ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinians that sought to halt months of fighting in Gaza.
After the blast, police cordoned off the area, and emergency workers went on high alert.
The attack was the first suicide bombing to hit Eilat, which is distant from Israel's major population centers and has been largely insulated from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It also was the first suicide bombing in Israel since last April, when a bomber struck a Tel Aviv restaurant, killing 12 people.
"It's without a doubt a terrible incident that the town of Eilat is not accustomed to," said Yitzhak Halevy, Eilat's mayor. "The thought that infiltrators could enter Eilat alive and disrupt the running of the town is very worrying."
Suicide bombings are sharply down from their height four years ago, when hundreds of Israelis were killed in dozens of attacks. A renewal of such violence could derail current efforts by the U.S., Israel and Abbas to renew long-stalled peace talks.
The Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, one of the groups claiming responsibility for Monday's attack, is linked to Fatah. However, Fatah spokesman Ahmad Abdul Rahman condemned the violence, saying: "We are against any operation that targets civilians, Israelis or Palestinians."
Eilat is located on the Red Sea near the Jordanian and Egyptian border, and al Qaeda operatives have been active in both neighboring countries. However, there was no indication the group was involved in Monday's attack.
Islamic Jihad said Saksak entered Israel from Jordan after seven months of preparation.
Abu Hamzeh, an Islamic Jihad spokesman, said Saksak did not enter Jordan legally, but rather was smuggled there a few days ago. Militants waiting for Saksak in Eilat gave him the explosives there, Hamzeh told the AP.
"We held back on operations for a while and gave the stage to Fatah and Hamas to conduct unity government discussions. We saw that it has not achieved anything, so we have reverted to martyrdom operations," Hamzeh said.
Islamic Jihad spokesmen declined to say how the bomber left Gaza, though Hamzeh insisted it was not through Gaza's often-closed Rafah crossing into Egypt -- Gazans' only gateway to the outside world. If it's found Saksak did leave through Rafah, however, a delicate, U.S.-brokered arrangement involving Palestinian security forces and European monitors could face additional trouble.
"Our working assumption is that he didn't make it on his own, that he may have had accomplices," Eilat police chief Bruno Stein told Israel Radio. He declined to say whether the attacker crossed an international border.
The Israel-Egypt border, which runs near Eilat, is regularly crossed by smugglers entering Israel, according to police. The smugglers for the most part bring drugs and prostitutes into Israel.
The only attack to hit Eilat since the renewed outbreak of Israel-Palestinian violence in 2000 came in August, 2005, when Islamist militants linked to al Qaeda fired a rocket from Jordan at the city, causing no casualties.
The last deadly attack in the city was in May 1992, when Palestinian militants swam to an Eilat beach and killed an Israeli security guard.
Two Palestinian militant groups, Islamic Jihad and the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, claimed joint responsibility for the attack.
Both groups said the attack was meant to help bring an end to weeks of Palestinian infighting that has killed more than 60 people in the Gaza Strip since December.
Gunmen from Hamas and the rival Fatah Party battled each other across the Gaza Strip on Monday, attacking security compounds, knocking out an electrical transformer and kidnapping several local commanders. Four people were killed.
"The operation has a clear message to the Palestinian rivals. It is necessary to end the infighting and point the guns toward the occupation that has hurt the Palestinian people," a posting on the Islamic Jihad Web site said.
The group identified the bomber as Mohammed Saksak, 21, of Gaza City, after earlier saying he came from the West Bank. The Palestinian Web site Ramattan quoted Saksak's family as saying he had left their home three days ago and not returned.
Witnesses said the bomber stood out because he was wearing a long winter coat on a warm, sunny day when he struck the small bakery in a residential neighborhood. Police said the bomb was in a bag he was carrying rather than an explosives belt often used in past suicide attacks.
"It was very hot, very hot. He had a coat on and it didn't look right to me. I thought to myself, 'What's that idiot dressed like that for?' A couple of seconds later I heard a massive explosion," Benny Mazgini, 45, told Israel Radio.
Shattered glass, body parts and blood-splattered pastries were visible on the sidewalk outside, alongside bread trays scattered by the blast.
"It was awful -- there was smoke, pieces of flesh all over the place," Mazgini said.
The attack was the second suicide bombing in Israel since Hamas won Palestinian parliamentary elections last January. The group came under heavy criticism for making statements in support of a suicide bombing in a Tel Aviv restaurant shortly after it took power.
Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza, called Monday's attack a "natural response" to Israeli military policies in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as well as its ongoing boycott of the Hamas-led Palestinian government. "So long as there is occupation, resistance is legitimate," he said.
He also said attacks on Israel were preferable to the recent bout of Palestinian infighting in Gaza between his group and the more moderate Fatah Party of President Mahmoud Abbas. "The right thing is for Fatah weapons to be directed toward the occupation not toward Hamas," Barhoum said.
An Israeli spokesman reacted cautiously to the initial reports of an attack, but hinted at a potentially tough response.
"At this point it's unclear what the origin of the terror attack is," said David Baker, an official in Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office. "Israel as a nation is continually confronting terror threats. Israel is always on guard against such attacks and we are compelled to continue to do so."
It was not clear if Monday's attack would derail a November ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinians that sought to halt months of fighting in Gaza.
After the blast, police cordoned off the area, and emergency workers went on high alert.
The attack was the first suicide bombing to hit Eilat, which is distant from Israel's major population centers and has been largely insulated from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It also was the first suicide bombing in Israel since last April, when a bomber struck a Tel Aviv restaurant, killing 12 people.
"It's without a doubt a terrible incident that the town of Eilat is not accustomed to," said Yitzhak Halevy, Eilat's mayor. "The thought that infiltrators could enter Eilat alive and disrupt the running of the town is very worrying."
Suicide bombings are sharply down from their height four years ago, when hundreds of Israelis were killed in dozens of attacks. A renewal of such violence could derail current efforts by the U.S., Israel and Abbas to renew long-stalled peace talks.
The Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, one of the groups claiming responsibility for Monday's attack, is linked to Fatah. However, Fatah spokesman Ahmad Abdul Rahman condemned the violence, saying: "We are against any operation that targets civilians, Israelis or Palestinians."
Eilat is located on the Red Sea near the Jordanian and Egyptian border, and al Qaeda operatives have been active in both neighboring countries. However, there was no indication the group was involved in Monday's attack.
Islamic Jihad said Saksak entered Israel from Jordan after seven months of preparation.
Abu Hamzeh, an Islamic Jihad spokesman, said Saksak did not enter Jordan legally, but rather was smuggled there a few days ago. Militants waiting for Saksak in Eilat gave him the explosives there, Hamzeh told the AP.
"We held back on operations for a while and gave the stage to Fatah and Hamas to conduct unity government discussions. We saw that it has not achieved anything, so we have reverted to martyrdom operations," Hamzeh said.
Islamic Jihad spokesmen declined to say how the bomber left Gaza, though Hamzeh insisted it was not through Gaza's often-closed Rafah crossing into Egypt -- Gazans' only gateway to the outside world. If it's found Saksak did leave through Rafah, however, a delicate, U.S.-brokered arrangement involving Palestinian security forces and European monitors could face additional trouble.
"Our working assumption is that he didn't make it on his own, that he may have had accomplices," Eilat police chief Bruno Stein told Israel Radio. He declined to say whether the attacker crossed an international border.
The Israel-Egypt border, which runs near Eilat, is regularly crossed by smugglers entering Israel, according to police. The smugglers for the most part bring drugs and prostitutes into Israel.
The only attack to hit Eilat since the renewed outbreak of Israel-Palestinian violence in 2000 came in August, 2005, when Islamist militants linked to al Qaeda fired a rocket from Jordan at the city, causing no casualties.
The last deadly attack in the city was in May 1992, when Palestinian militants swam to an Eilat beach and killed an Israeli security guard.
Hammy Hamas
