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The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PLFP) claimed responsibility for the attack. The group said its Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades carried out the attack. The group named the bomber as Amr al-Far, 16, from the Askar refugee camp near Nablus. (AP)
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| By israelinsider staff November 1, 2004 |
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An explosion ripped through the open-air Carmel Market in southern Tel Aviv around 11:15 near the intersection of Rambam and Carmel Streets. Two women and a man were killed, not including the suicide bomber. 18 of the wounded remain in hospital --eight in serious or critical condition.
The dead have been identified as:
- Shmuel Levi, 65, of Jaffa;
- Leah Levine, 64, of Givatayim
- Tatiana Ackerman, 32, of Tel Aviv
The bomber blew himself up among shoppers in the market. Rescue of the wounded was hampered by the narrow streets around the market. The bomb is believed to have been relatively small.
A witness, identified as Moti, told Army Radio that he heard an explosion in the market. "I thought maybe fireworks, or a gas canister. But then I saw a store, completely destroyed. Goods fell to the ground. People ran away. I lost my glasses and my hat," he said.
"I saw lots of people lying on the ground, lots of people wounded," shopper Michal Weizman told Army Radio. "There was a woman whose entire body was torn up, all her body was torn up."
Police pursued a suspicious car, believed to have brought the terrorist to the market, heading toward Jerusalem.
As the corpse of the suicide bomber was being carried away by authorities, people chased it and tried to knock it onto the ground.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) was behind the attack. The group said its Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, named after a terror leader eliminated by Israel, carried out the attack. The group named the bomber as Amr al-Far, 16, from the Askar refugee camp near Nablus.
Samira Abdullah, 45, al-Far'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."
Askar was also the home of the female suicide bomber who blew up on September 22 at a French Hill intersection, the previous suicide bombing in Israel.
The bomber reached Tel Aviv via Ramallah and Jerusalem.
Police suspect that terror groups made use of illegal Palestinian workers employed at the market to plan attacks.
"I want to say to all those who employ Palestinians who do not have the required permits to enter Israel: Please put a stop to this. These Palestinians give terrorists information and assist them in arriving into Israel," Police Commander David Tzur said.
However, security officials said there had been no concrete warning for the Carmel Market.
The last terror bombing in Tel Aviv took place in July, when an explosive charge blew up near a bus stop on Har Zion Street, killing a female soldier.
Security officials said they believed 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 because of strict security at crowded areas in Jerusalem.
Condemnations
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said the terror attack was proof that the Palestinian Authority has not changed and that Israel had not choice but to continue fighting terror. "The State of Israel has not stopped and will not stop its war on the murderous terrorism operating against us," he said.
"Today's terror attack proved that there has been no change in the Palestinian Authority. Until they take substantial steps to eradicate terror and dismantle terrorist organizations, to carry out reforms and stop the incitement, Israel will continue its policy. Words, promises and half-hearted condemnations will not suffice. We demand full implementation of the Palestinian commitments."
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia also criticized the attack as not serving Palestinian interests. "We don't believe that such an action serves our national cause, so we call on everyone to stop targeting civilians," he said.
Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat reportedly called his aide Nabil Abu Rudeineh from a hospital in France to condemn the terror attack and "the killing of civilians on both sides," Abu Rudeineh said.
Palestinian cabinet minister Saeb Erekat also condemned the attack, and said, "We urge the international community to exert every possible effort to revive the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians, which is the only to break this vicious cycle of violence."
Arab Member of Knesset Ahmed Tibi said that security will come to citizens of Tel Aviv and Sderot when Palestinian citizens are secure. He said attacks on civilians should be rejected for political and moral reasons. He wondered sarcastically whether Israeli government ministers would blame this attack on Arafat.
Former MK Michael Kleiner said today, "The attack today marks the end of Rabin's period of 'sacrifices for peace' and the start of Sharon's period of 'sacrifices for disengagement.'" Kleiner said that the disengagement program is similar to the Oslo process in that both indicate weakness to our enemies and encourage terrorism. "Today's attack in the Carmel Market must arouse the public to realize that running away from Gush Katif won't solve the demographic problem, which does not stop at the Green Line," Kleiner said, "and neither will it solve the problem of terrorism that kills us all over. Instead, it will merely bring the Kassam rockets closer to Ashkelon."
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