ARAB TERRORIST KILLS ONE, WOUNDS 16 IN KFAR SAVA ATTACK
SUICIDE BOMBER ATTACKS BUS IN JERUSALEM

International terrorism: Photo: Reuters
A Palestinian child burns the American flag today in Gaza

Jerusalem-----March 17.......It's called madness. On a cool, sunny afternoon in the sleepy Tel Aviv suburb of Kfar Sava, a young Arab takes out an automatic pistol and begins to spray bullets in every direction. Knowing that Israeli security is very tight and the odds of making it into Tel Aviv are slim, the Islamic madman kills one teenage girl and wounds over 16 pedestrians a few miles north of Tel Aviv's skyscrappers. The attack took place not far from the Ra'anana junction (Summit Ra'anana) near the Kfar Sava courthouse and police station. Bullets penetrating the metal and glass of nearby stores and outdoor cafes.

Kfar Sava: 1 Dead, 16 wounded in a terror attack on shops, restaurants
and civilians eating lunch. Kfar Sava is inside the pre-1967 borders of Israel.

Within minutes after the shooting began, the crackeling of more bullets were heard, this time coming from alert Israeli policemen and security guards from the court house nearby. As the terrorist lay motionless in a pool of dead, the crys and screams of those wounded filled the air. Magen David Adom ambuances rushed to the scene. They were met by police, soldiers, anti-terrorist units and other medical personnel. Israeli photographers were also in abundance, trying to capture that one frame that they could see for 200 dollars. And then the religous men arrived in their black suits, white aprons and yellow security vests. There job was to pick up the flesh, body parts and remove the blood from the streets and sidewalks.
The intersection of "Sheshet Hayamim Avenue" and Weizmann Street became just another blurred and bloody reminder of how international terrorism could strech from New York to Pakistan to Washington to the residential streets of the only democracy in the Middle-East.
Hours before this attack took place, Islamic Arab terrorists threw grenades into a church in Pakistan, killing many at Sunday prayer, including an American mother and daughter.

No faxes have arrived in any of the many news bureaus in Jerusalem claiming responsibility. Perhaps these terrorists were now hiding from the wrath of the United States, as US envoy Anthony Zinni was trying to make peace. And as US Vice-President Dick Cheney was only hours away from arriving in the Holy Land.
Israeli security forces identified the terrorist as a 25-year-old man who is a member in the Fatah movement headed by Yasser Arafat.

"First I heard shots and then I went forward, and I saw a guard of some sort chasing the terrorist, who had a pistol," a woman told Israeli Channel Two television from Kfar Saba. "He didn't manage to get him in time, and the terrorist went into a shop and opened fire and I saw another two people fall."

Israeli police perform a search in Kfar Sava
for terrorists in buildings adjacent to the terror attack Photo: Reuters

One of the pedestrians is in very critical condition and at least five others sustained moderate wounds, Israel Radio reported. The terror victims were rushed to the city's nearby Meir Hospital. Two others, suffering from trauma, were taken to Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva.

A short while later in Jerusalem, an Arab suicide bomber blew himself up at a busy intersection in a Jewish neighbourhood in the eastern part of the city.

Police chief Mickey Levy said the bomber rushed a bus at the intersection and set off the explosives. The bus was damaged and several people suffered cuts from flying glass, he said. The bus was splattered with the flesh and blood of the attacker.
The terror attack took place near the No. 22 bus as it traveled northward under a bridge just past a bus stop at the intersection. At least 25 passengers sustained minor wounds in the attack, according to Magen David Adom spokesmen.

Nine passengers were rushed to Hadassah University Hospital-Ein Kerem, and four others were transferred to Hadassah University Hospital-Mt. Scopus.

Hizbullah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah today called on Palestinians to continue their acts of terrorism, and create "rivers of blood," saying this is a historic opportunity to bring down Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Israel Radio reported. Nasrallah also demanded that Arab countries provide the Palestinians with more weapons, and said they should reject the Saudi peace plan. He added that US Vice President Dick Cheney should go back to his country.

``It is critical that the Palestinian Authority take responsibility and act against terror,'' Zinni said in response to the two attacks. ``Now is the time to get to a cease-fire.''

``Israel has offered a cease-fire, pulled back most of its forces in good faith, and this seems to be the answer Israel is receiving,'' said Dore Gold, an adviser to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.