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PM Ariel Sharon held an emergency meeting of his Security Cabinet late Monday (AP).
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| By Israel Insider staff and partners December 6, 2005 |
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Israel pledged painful retaliation after an Islamic Jihad suicide bomber killed five Israelis outside a mall in an Israeli city that is a favorite target because it is close to the "West Bank" (Judea and Samaria).
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon held an emergency meeting of his Security Cabinet late Monday, while Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas threatened strong action of his own against the terrorists responsible.
The Defense Ministry decided to resume killing Islamic Jihad leaders in the West Bank and push ahead with arrest raids in the northern West Bank, security officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the issue.
"We decided on a series of steps today," Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz told Army Radio, refusing to give details but saying that some were being put into effect immediately.
In its first step early Tuesday, the military clamped a closure on the West Bank and Gaza, banning Palestinians from Israel, with a few exceptions, including humanitarian cases.
The Haaretz daily said the military was preparing for a wide operation in the West Bank and Gaza that could last a month.
Israel Radio reported Sharon also decided to cancel VIP travel permits for Palestinian officials and halt talks on a passage between the West Bank and Gaza.
The bombing could reverberate domestically on both sides. Israel and the Palestinians are in the middle of election campaigns, and more violence could hurt both Sharon and Abbas, who say they support returning to the internationally backed "road map" peace plan.
The U.S. condemned the bombing. Speaking to reporters on her way to Germany, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said, "This does call on the Palestinians to fight terrorists and begin to deal with the terrorist organizations in their midst."
An Israeli driver, who spotted the bomber heading toward his target, alerted nearby police officers. A mall security guard hustled the attacker away from the crowd of shoppers waiting to enter the mall and pushed him against a wall, where the bomber detonated his explosives.
The guard was among the five killed, police said.
"If the bomber had gotten in, the result would have been much worse," said Israel's police chief, Moshe Karadi.
Islamic Jihad, a terrorist group that has carried out all five suicide bombings in Israel since Palestinians declared a truce in February, claimed responsibility for the attack, which also injured about 40, saying it was retaliation for Israeli killings of the group's leaders.
The attacker hit Netanya, a seaside city at Israel's narrowest point, 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the West Bank, a frequent target of bombers.
A man carrying a black bag crossed the street in front of the city's Sharon Mall. An Israeli driver waiting at a red light noticed the suspicious man and alerted police in the car behind him - in a scene caught on street security cameras and broadcast on Israel's Channel Two TV.
"Within a second I knew he looked suspicious," the driver, off-duty security guard Nir Hudra, told The Associated Press.
Policewoman Shoshi Attia got out of her car and approached the man, but he started running toward the mall, she said.
When he put his left hand in the bag, Attia screamed "terrorist, terrorist, take his hand out of the bag," she told Israeli media from her hospital bed. "Then people started running, crossing the street, running in every direction."
The security guard bolted from the mall and pushed the bomber away from the crowd waiting to get in, she said.
"I was looking (the bomber) in the eye and he pressed (the button) and blew up. I flew, and all I remember is that I was looking in his eye, I saw his gaze," she said.
The huge explosion, also caught on security cameras, sent smoke billowing into the sky and debris flying and clattering to the ground.
Sharon could be pressured to mount a tough response ahead of the March 28 election.
Sharon left his hard-line Likud Party to form a new centrist party, saying it would give him more freedom to seek a peace deal with the Palestinians.
The Palestinians have parliamentary elections Jan. 25, and violence could harm Abbas' Fatah Party, laying bare its ineffectiveness, in its race against the Islamic Hamas group.
Abbas condemned the attack. "The Palestinian Authority will not go easy on whoever is proved to be responsible," said a statement issued by Abbas' office.
Islamic Jihad identified the attacker as Lotfi Abu Saada from Illar, a village north of the West Bank town of Tulkarem. A video released by the group showed the bomber posing with a grenade launcher and assault rifles.
Relatives described Abu Saada, 23, as a primary-school dropout who was illiterate and exploited by his handlers. "My son is a poor soul. He doesn't know anything about this," said his mother, Amina.
Abbas approves payments to suicide bomber families
JONATHAN D. HALEVI and DAVID FRANKFURTER add:
As reports of another suicide bombing in the Israeli seaside resort of Netanya broke, Palestinian newspaper al-Haya al-Jadidha disclosed that the Palestinian President has approved financial support for families of suicide bombers. Each "martyr family" will receive a monthly stipend of at least $250 from the PA. The budget for "martyr families", prisoners, and the wounded could reach $100 million a year out of an annual budget of approximately $1 billion -- around 30% of which comes from international donations.
The family of a married "martyr" will receive an additional $50 a month. "Martyr parents" will receive an additional $25 per parent, and each child or sibling of a "martyr" is to receive an additional $15.
The allocations will be paid from the budget of the Palestinian Authority (PA) via the Martyrs' Families and Injured Care Establishment, which is directly responsible to the PA Social Welfare Department.
According to PA data, the new law applies to the families of 3,746 Palestinians killed in the second intifada (September 2000 - December 2005) as well as the 1,533 families of "martyrs" of the first intifada (1987 - 1993). Official PA information shows that the PA already transfers some $4 million each month to Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. Total support for "martyr families", prisoners and the wounded could reach as much as $100 million a year out of a total $1 billion budget -- approximately 30% of which, according to published PA accounts, is provided by international donors.
"Martyr families", prisoners and the wounded receive additional financial assistance amounting to tens of millions of dollars annually, from the Charity Trusts of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad. These charities are located mainly in Saudi Arabia, Iran and Persian Gulf countries, with some donations being channeled through Islamic charities in Europe and the United States.
The AP contributed to this report
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