Suicide Blast Kills Four Outside Tel Aviv

A Palestinian suicide bombing at a bus stop outside Tel Aviv killed four people Thursday just minutes after an Israeli helicopter fired missiles at a car in Gaza, killing a senior Islamic Jihad commander and four others.

The attacks were the first of their kind in more than two 
months and were likely to lead to a wave of retaliatory violence and
damage new efforts to restart the Israel-Palestinian peace process.
Palestinian officials and Egyptian mediators have been 
struggling to convince militants to halt attacks and get Israel to
forgo such targeting killings of militant leaders. Palestinian
officials condemned both attacks Thursday and called for renewed
peace talks. Israeli leaders said the suicide bombing proved why
such airstrikes were needed and pledged to continue fighting
militants.
The suicide bombing took place during the busy evening rush 
hour at a bus stop at the Geha junction outside Tel Aviv where
Palestinian workers routinely wait for people to pick them up for
potential jobs, police said.
The bomber approached the bus stop and blew himself up, 
killing two women and another man, said Israeli Police Commissioner
Shlomo Aharonishki. Another woman died later in a hospital, police
said. At least 13 other people were wounded.
An official who saw the bodies of the dead said he believed 
they were Israelis. Tel Aviv district police commander Yossi Sedbon
told Israel Radio that hoped "the (terrorist) cell" would be
apprehended soon, indicating that the bomber had accomplices. He
said a court-ordered news blackout was imposed on the investigation.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine claimed 
responsibility in a call to The Associated Press, saying it was in
retaliation for the killing of two of its members last week. The
group identified the bomber as Said Hanani, 18, from the village of
Beit Furik, east of the West Bank city of Nablus.
The bombing was the first such attack on civilians since an 
Islamic Jihad suicide bomber blew herself up on Oct. 4 at a
restaurant in the northern Israeli city of Haifa, killing 21 people.
The U.S. government condemned the suicide attack. "The 
United States reiterates the absolute need for urgent action by the
Palestinian Authority to confront terror and violence," State
Department spokesman Richard Boucher said.
A few minutes before the bombing Thursday, Israeli 
helicopters fired two missiles at a car driving between Gaza City
and the nearby Jebaliya refugee camp, killing the top commander of
the Islamic Jihad group in Gaza, Mekled Hameid, 39, and four others
-- two Islamic Jihad militants and two bystanders, militants said.
Hospital officials said 14 people were wounded, three 
seriously.
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said Hameid was targeted 
because he was planning a "mega-terror attack." Mofaz did not
elaborate. Israeli military sources would say only that the attack
was to be inside Israel.

Israeli army spokesman Capt. Jacob Dallal described Hameid 
as a "ticking bomb." He told AP that Hameid "was behind a long, long
list of terror attacks, and he was in the midst of planning a major
attack."
The targeted car was burned black, its windows shattered. 
Nearby buildings in the heavily populated neighborhood were damaged.
However, Palestinian witnesses said the Israelis apparently 
used a different kind of ordnance than in previous attacks, since
the bodies were not burned in the explosion and there was not much
shrapnel.
The raid was the first air strike of its type since Oct. 20, 
when an Israeli helicopter launched missiles at a car in the
Nusseirat refugee camp in Gaza, killing 14 people, most of them
bystanders. In that strike, the Israelis were chasing Palestinians
who had tried to infiltrate into Israel, according to the military.
Such operations in the past often caused civilian casualties 
and have led to revenge attacks by militant groups.
At Gaza's Shifa Hospital, where the wounded were taken 
Thursday, masked Islamic Jihad militants promised "a severe
retaliation" deep inside Israel.
The airstrike and suicide bombing came after clashes during 
a two-day military operation in Gaza's Rafah refugee camp left nine
Palestinians dead. That operation, which ended Wednesday, led
Palestinians to cancel a preparatory meeting for a planned summit
between the two sides' prime ministers intended to speed up peace
efforts.
"We condemn the targeting and killing of Palestinian and 
Israeli civilians and we call on Israeli government to resume a
meaningful dialogue to a peace process," Palestinian Cabinet
minister Saeb Erekat told AP.
The meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and 
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia was intended to reinvigorate
the U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan, which envisions an end to
three years of violence that has killed more than 2,600 Palestinians
and about 900 Israelis.
The recent lull in suicide bombings had led many to believe 
Palestinian militants were observing an informal, unilateral
cease-fire on attacks as part of Qureia's efforts to negotiate a
formal truce.
Israeli officials said the reason for the lull was not that 
the militants were less active but that Israel had stopped them.
Since the Oct. 4 Haifa bombing, the military prevented 22 
suicide bombing attempts and 13 other planned attacks, Dallal said.
The suicide bombing Thursday "further proves that Israel 
must stay one step ahead of Palestinian terrorism and take whatever
steps are necessary to prevent terror before it strikes at innocent
Israeli civilians," said David Baker, an official in Sharon's
office.
Israeli Health Minister Dan Naveh blamed Yasser Arafat for 
the suicide bombing and pushed for Israel to expel the Palestinian
leader. Several months ago Israel's Cabinet declared Arafat an
obstacle to peace that must be removed, but intense U.S. pressure
prevented an Israeli move against him.
Last week, Sharon said he was considering pulling out of 
parts of the West Bank and Gaza even without a deal with the
Palestinians, and dismantling Jewish settlements in the areas Israel
vacates.

Source: Clari.net