Arafat's Terror Murders 17 In Israeli Bus Bombings
Yasser Arafat and
Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the founder of Hamas, celebrate a terror attack
against Israeli civilians shortly before Yassin was assasinated by Israeli
security forces.
By Joel Leyden
Israel News Agency
Jerusalem----August 31......Palestinian suicide bombers, working with the direct consent of Yasser Arafat, blew up two buses in Beer Sheva this afternoon, murdering at least 17 people and wounding more than 80.
The twin terror blasts were claimed by both Yasser Arafat and the Islamic terror group Hamas. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon met with top security officials and planned further talks later in the day.
"Israel will continue fighting terror with all its might," Sharon said, pledging to push forward with Israel's planned peace move withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. The explosions came just hours after he presented the Israel right wing Likud party with the most detailed timetable yet for the pullout.
The buses burst into flames about 100 yards apart near a bustling intersection in Beersheba, the largest city in southern Israel. Hamas issued a leaflet in Hebron, the closest Palestinian city to Beersheba, saying the attack was avenging Israel's assassinations of two of its leaders earlier this year. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat took to the airwaves immediatly after the terror attack and chanted: "Now we will move onto Jerusalem." Arafat, while speaking peace in English, has consistently incited both adults and children in Arabic to become terror suicide bombers.
"People were screaming and yelling. Everybody was running," said witness Tzvika Schreter, a 50-year-old college lecturer.
A murdered Israeli
civilian hangs from a window after a Palestinian terror bomb blasts ripped
through two buses in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba. Photo:
Reuters
"The Palestinian interest requires a stop to harming all civilians so as not give Israel pretext to continue its aggression against our people," Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said in a statement in English. In Arabic, Arafat praised the terror attack as a "justified weapon against the Zionists."
Israeli police, fire and emergency medical rescue workers scoured the scene, cleaning up body parts and scattered pieces of the wreckage as dozens of onlookers gathered nearby. A hand with a ring lay on the ground, and blood was splattered on the walls of the mangled buses.
Police said the barbaric scene was complicating the recovery of bodies and warned the death toll could rise. They said the 17 people did not include the bombers. Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service said 30 of the wounded were in serious or moderate condition.
Authorities stepped up security throughout Beersheba after the attacks, placing checkpoints on major roads and snarling traffic coming in and out of the city.
In the Gaza Strip, Muslim leaders praised the "heroic operation" over mosque loudspeakers.
Palestinian terrorists haven't carried out a major attack inside Israel since March 14, when 11 people were murdered in the port of Ashdod. After that attack, Israel assassinated Sheik Ahmed Yassin, the spiritual leader of Hamas, and his successor, Abdel Aziz Rantisi. Hamas has repeatedly pledged to avenge their deaths, but had taken little action before Tuesday.
"If you thought that the martyrdom of our leaders would weaken our missions and discourage us from Jihad, then you are dreaming," the Hamas leaflet said.
Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups have carried out more than 100 suicide bombings in Israel over the past four years, but the pace of attacks has slowed considerably this year.
Israel has attributed the slowdown to its success in fighting terrorists and its anti-terror fence not a lack of effort by armed Palestinian groups.
Israel has arrested or killed dozens of terrorists in recent months, maintains dozens of security roadblocks in the West Bank and places security guards near busy bus stops in Israeli cities.
But Israeli officials Tuesday repeatedly cited the security fence as the primary reason for the slowdown. The structure of concrete and barbed wire, which is about one-quarter complete, has not yet reached the Hebron area.
"Unfortunately Israel has to lose more innocent civilians to prove to the world the necessity and justice of the fence," said Dore Gold, an adviser to Sharon.
Earlier Tuesday, the Israeli army caught a Palestinian man with an explosives belt strapped under his clothing as he tried to cross into Israel from the Gaza Strip. Gaza is closed off from Israel, and militants have had trouble reaching Israel from there.
Palestinian leaders condemned the attack and called for an immediate cease-fire and resumption of peace talks. The European Union also condemned the terror bombing and called for an end to bloodshed in the Middle East.
Sharon refuses to negotiate with the Palestinians. Instead, he has called for a peaceful unilateral withdrawal next year from the Gaza Strip and four isolated West Bank settlements. He says the moves will improve Israel's security.
In Jerusalem, a Sharon ally in the Cabinet said the Gaza withdrawal could begin by the end of the year, or several months ahead of schedule.
The initial plan called for the withdrawals to be completed in four stages by September 2005. Each phase was to be presented to the Cabinet for approval.
With opposition mounting in Likud and in the Cabinet, Sharon is pushing for a swifter withdrawal. He also hopes to weaken settler resistance by making early advance payments on compensation that would encourage many of the 8,000 Gaza settlers to leave voluntarily, according to Sharon officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The Israeli prime minister opened Tuesday's meeting with Likud legislators with a warning not to sabotage the withdrawal. "You know my views on the subject. The disengagement plan will be implemented, period," he said.
The first key date in Sharon's timetable is Sept. 14, when the Cabinet is to approve the principles of compensating and evacuating settlers. Officials said advance payments would be authorized at that session.
On Sept. 26, Cabinet ministers will be given draft legislation for carrying out the withdrawal, and the bill will be approved by the Cabinet on Oct. 24, Sharon said. By Nov. 3, the legislation will be presented to parliament for a first of three votes.
Sharon has already lost two Likud battles over his pullout plan - a nonbinding referendum by party members and a convention vote. At least half of the 40 Likud members of parliament oppose the pullout.
Justice Minister Yosef Lapid urged on Tuesday not to use the tragic double bus bombing in Be'er Sheva to manipulate political discourse regarding the imminent disengagement from the Gaza Strip.
"I am here to tell you that there is no connection between terrorism and the disengagement plan. Terror continues – it stands apart from disengagement," Lapid said Tuesday night on Channel 1 TV.
"Those against the disengagement plan will tell you that it was the disengagement plan that caused the attack, and those who support it will say that to avoid such attacks disengagement needs to be expedited," he explained.
He reiterated that the security fence must be built as quickly as possible, and apologized that construction of the fence is taking as long as it is.
"I'm sorry that we can't build the fence quicker," he said. "Unfortunately there are technical, financial and legal problems standing in our way."
However, he also said that the security fence unfortunately cannot eliminate terrorism completely. "Even if you complete the fence in the south, there will be other areas that are open. You can't seal the state of Israel off hermetically, and you can't put an end to terror entirely, you can only try to minimize its dimensions."
An alert Israel Defense Forces soldier thwarted a suicide bombing at the Erez crossing from the Gaza Strip Tuesday morning. According to the army, the female soldier became suspicious of a Palestinian man wanting to cross into Israel, and forced him into a more stringent inspection, in which he was found to be carrying false identification papers.
A further check discovered that the Palestinian was wearing an explosives belt, but not the 'usual' belts suicide bombers wear around their waists. The explosives were stitched into the man's underwear, and it is thought the technique was used in the hope that soldiers would not search there. Sappers defused the explosive belt at the scene.
Israel Defense Forces North Gaza Division Commander Col. Avi Levy said that the would-be bomber had planned to blow himself up at the crossing, as near as possible to a group of soldiers.
No terrorist group has yet claimed responsibility for sending "the underwear bomber".
IDF soldiers have thwarted two suicide bombings in the Gaza Strip this week. On Sunday, troops shot and killed a Palestinian trying to infiltrate into the Gaza settlement of Nahal Oz. A suicide bomb vest was found on the man's body. The Erez crossing was closed Tuesday following the Palestinians' attempt to smuggle in the bomber.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that IDF troops operating in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip killed a 14-year-old Palestinian boy Tuesday morning. Reuters identified the boy as Mazen al-Ajah. Soldiers were in the area to improve defensive positions within the context of ongoing operations against weapons smuggling in the area.
The army said troops spotted someone approaching them as though he was monitoring their movements and they opened fire. Often terror groups use children to monitor troop movements and compile information and prepare for attacks against IDF forces.
In the West Bank, troops surrounding a building in Jenin came under fire Tuesday morning. There were no injuries. The building was surrounded following intelligence that wanted men were holed up inside, Israel Radio reported.
Several hundred settlers and Breslav Hassidim prayed at Joseph's Tomb near Nablus overnight. The worshippers were guarded by IDF troops.
Thirty-eight wanted Palestinian men were arrested overnight across the West Bank.
Syrian President Bashar Al Assad responded to the murdering of Israeli civilians today saying that he regards terrorism as a “strategic weapon” in his battle against Israel, the Jewish state’s head of military intelligence said Monday. “The Syrian president considers terrorism as a strategic weapon to use against Israel until there is an international peace agreement, “ Israel Defense Forces General Aharon Zeevi said on Israel public radio. Zeevi also accused Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat of having “the same idea about terrorism.”
“For Arafat, terrorism is a way of counteracting Israel’s military superiority until all his objectives regarding a Palestinian state are achieved,” he added.