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| By israelinsider staff April 17, 2006 |
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At 1:35pm a massive explosion rocked a shwarma stand near the old central bus station on Neve Shaanan street in south Tel Aviv. The huge blast was heard throughout Tel Aviv. The windows of Israel Insider, two miles away, shook.
The old central bus station area, a poor area with many foreign workers, has been the scene of five bombings in recent years. In recent days there have been more than a dozen alerts of planned attacks.
The target of the attack, the popular "Mayor's Shwarma" stand, was attacked in January 2006, when a suicide bomber blew himself up inside a shwarma shop in the area. In that case there were no fatalities other than the bomber. This time the bomb was larger, and the attack lethal.
"Last time we had a miracle, but there is no second time," Pini Gershon, one of the owners. "Now it's a lot harder, especially when you see all the dead. That was the worst sight," he said.
The shwarma stand was crowded at lunchtime. Nissim, one of the stand's owners, said that the bomber pushed aside a security guard and blew up two meters from the counter.
Moussa al-Zidat said the guard asked the bomber to open his bag. "I saw a young man beginning to open his bag. The guard started to open the bag, and then I heard a boom."
Another witness, identified as Israel Yaakov, said the blast killed a woman standing in front of her husband and children, who were lightly wounded. "The father went into shock. He ran to the children and the children were screaming, 'Mom! Mom!' She didn't answer. She was dead already. It was a horrifying scene."
Nine people are reported dead, not including the bomber. One of the victims died on the way to the hospital, and three in the hospital itself. One remains in critical condition, nine are seriously injured.
Islamic Jihad initially claimed responsibility for the bombing, but Fatah Al-Aksa Martyrs' Brigages also took credit. The bomber, who appeared in a video recording, was a 16 year old boy, identified as Muhammed Salim, from Jenin in northern Samaria.
The police pursued a blue van that fled from the scene and stopped it north of Jerusalem. The three Palestinians inside were detained and interrogated, but later released when it became clear they had no connection with the attack. The pursuit caused massive traffic jams in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
The neighborhood has been the scene of additional attacks in recent years. In July 2002 two suicide bombers, some 20 meters apart, blew themselves up in sequence. Twin blasts also rocked the area in January 2003 where 22 people were killed.
Israeli Prime Minister-designate Ehud Olmert said Israel would respond "as necessary" to a bombing which killed six people and the attacker Monday, but that despite their best efforts the country's army and police would never be able to foil each and every attempted strike by Palestinian militants. Olmert added: "We will know how to respond, we know what to do."
"Elder statesman" Shimon Peres opened the 17th Knesset assembly with a nearly one hour speech extolling the potential for peace as rescue workers cleaned up the blood and body parts from the scene of the lastest terrorist massacre.
Hamas said the attack was a "legitimate response" to Israeli aggression and praised the 16 year old Islamic Jihad bomber.
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