coastal town on Monday, December 5, police officials said.
Reporters said bodies lay covered with blankets at the entrance to the Hasharon mall in Netanya, which has been a frequent target of suicide bombings during a five-year-old Palestinian uprising.
Netanya also suffered one of the deadliest bombings over the past five years, an attack during a Passover meal at a hotel March 27, 2002 that killed 29 people. The attack sparked Operation Defensive Shield, during which Israel retook control Palestinian towns and cities in more than two weeks of bloody fighting.
Monday’s attack, the first attack of its kind in six weeks, was claimed by Islamic Jihad group’s military wing, the Jerusalem Brigades, said Lebanon’s Hizbollah television. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon scheduled an emergency meeting of his Security Cabinet later Monday, December 5, to discuss a response to the bombing, news reports said.
In published remarks Islamic Jihad, which carried out several suicide bombings in recent months, said the bombing was "in retaliation" for Israeli targeted killings of the group’s leaders.
BLOOD POOL
The Associated Press (AP) news agency quoted a witness, identified only as Michael, as saying that he saw three people lying on the ground. "There was one who I thought was maybe still alive. There was a big pool of blood. I checked the pulse in her neck and concluded she was dead," said Michael, who claimed he served as a medic in the Israeli army.
Sharon has repeatedly said that long deadlocked peace negotiations cannot resume until militant violence stops, and Monday’s attack was likely to set back renewed efforts to return to the internationally sponsored "road map" peace talks.
PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY
"The Palestinian Authority continues to refuse to take the most elementary steps to prevent terrorism. They refuse to incarcerate terrorists. They refuse to dismantle the terror rganizations and put them out of business once and for all. And we’ve seen these results today in Netanya," AP quoted David Baker, an official in Sharon’s office, as saying.
Christian organizations in Israel, including the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, have in the past expressed concern about what they see as growing pressure on the Jewish people and stress among families amid growing violence.
They also expressed concern about the situation of Jewish settlers forced to leave their homes under an internationally backed peace plan. The Palestinian leadership condemned the attack in Natanya saying it undermines the peace process. (With reports from Israel)
