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West Bank suicide bombing leaves 4 dead
(AP)
Updated: 2005-12-30 08:53
A Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up Thursday, killing an Israeli
army officer and two other Palestinians after Israeli soldiers ordered him to
remove his overcoat at a West Bank checkpoint set up specifically to foil the
attack.
The Arabic satellite station Al-Arabiya reported that Syrian-backed militant
group Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the bombing. The report could not
be confirmed, but the group earlier this week rebuffed Palestinian leader
Mahmoud Abbas' appeal for an end to suicide bombings and rocket attacks.
In increasingly chaotic Gaza, meanwhile, Palestinian police were searching
for a British human rights worker and her parents, kidnapped at gunpoint in the
southern Gaza town of Rafah on Wednesday 錕斤拷 and a gunfight erupted between two
feuding families in Gaza City. A policeman and one of the family members were
killed, hospital officials said.
The suicide bombing took place just south of the Palestinian town of
Tulkarem, about two miles inside the West Bank. The army had set up roadblocks
in the area shortly after receiving warnings that a suicide bomber was headed
toward Israel.
Israeli security collect evidence at the scene
of a suicide bombing attack at an Israeli army checkpoint near the West
Bank town of Tulkarem Thursday Dec. 29, 2005.
[AP] | The army said the bomber, an accomplice and the taxi driver were killed,
along with a 21-year-old Israeli army officer, Lt. Uri Binamo. Seven
Palestinians and three soldiers were wounded.
Palestinians identified the attacker as Ala a-Sadi, a 23-year-old Palestinian
police officer from the northern West Bank town of Jenin whose family had links
to Islamic Jihad. There was pandemonium at the family home, where relatives were
trying to call a-Sadi on his cell phone with no success. No militant group
released the name of the bomber, as has been the practice in the past.
Israel's deputy defense minister, Zeev Boim, blamed local Islamic Jihad
operatives with direct support from the group's leadership in Syria.
"Their efforts to put suicide bombers in the center of Israel are always
ongoing," he told Israel Radio, praising the army for foiling what could have
been a much worse attack.
Islamic Jihad has carried out all six suicide bombings since Israel and the
Palestinians declared a cease-fire last February. Israel has been targeting
Islamic Jihad leaders in arrest raids in the West Bank and airstrikes in Gaza.
Palestinian official Saeb Erekat condemned the bombing and called on all
groups to honor the cease-fire. "The Palestinian Authority is committed to the
cessation of violence," he said.
Violence in Gaza has increased since Israel pulled out in September,
destroying its 21 settlements. Israeli artillery shelled northern Gaza for a
second day after declaring a six square-mile area next to the border a "no-go"
zone, an attempt to stop a rash of rocket firing by Palestinian militants.
Al-Qaida in Iraq, meanwhile, claimed it fired a barrage of rockets into
northern Israel from Lebanon on Tuesday. The claim, on an Islamic Web forum
where the group often posts statements, could not be independently verified.
It apparently was the first time al-Qaida in Iraq claimed responsibility for
a direct attack against the Jewish state. The rockets landed in a residential
neighborhood of the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona, causing damage but
no casualties.
In August, al-Qaida in Iraq said it was behind a rocket attack in the
Jordanian port city of Aqaba that killed a Jordanian soldier. One of the three
rockets in the assault landed in neighboring Israel, causing no casualties .
Al-Qaida also claimed responsibility for the November 2002 suicide bombing of
a hotel frequented by Israelis in Kenya that killed 15 people, including three
Israelis. The same day, al-Qaida militants tried to shoot down a chartered
Israeli plane leaving a nearby airport.
Israel had blamed Tuesday's rocket attack on a radical Palestinian militia
and bombed one of its bases near Beirut. Israeli officials would not immediate
comment on the al-Qaida statement.
The U.S. State Department said it could not corroborate the al-Qaida claim,
but spokesman Adam Ereli said the attacks underscored the need "for Syria and
Iran to stop funneling arms and training and support to terrorist groups in
southern Lebanon."
In Gaza, Palestinian officials and militant groups condemned Wednesday's
abduction of British aid worker Kate Burton, 25, and her parents, but were
unable to find the kidnappers or the victims.
"We are continuing our search efforts, and we will not stop until the British
family is safely returned," said Gaza police chief Alaa Hosni. Palestinian
security set up roadblocks in Rafah and the nearby town of Khan Younis to
inspect traffic moving through the area.
Burton's family thanked people for their concern.
"We are a close family, and are naturally deeply concerned about our parents
and sister," the family said in a statement. "Kate is a warm and loving person,
and has been working as a volunteer in Gaza for the past year, trying to do what
she can to help the situation there."
The kidnapping was the latest in a string of abductions of foreigners in
recent months. In most cases, the kidnappers sought jobs in Palestinian security
forces, the release of imprisoned relatives or other personal matters. In all
cases, the victims were released unharmed.
Abbas' critics have accused him of giving in to kidnappers' demands,
encouraging more abductions.
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