three resorts bordering Israel, that were the target of a "terrorist attack" which killed at least 35 people and injured over 160, Israeli security officials said early Friday, October 8.
The attack late Thursday came as Jews celebrated the end of Sukkoth, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles, a Jewish holiday. Eyewitnesses told reporters that ten floors of the 430 room hotel collapsed while another part of the building was in flames following the blast, which killed up to 30 people.
Witnesses said dozens of casualties were believed to be beneath the rubble on the floor of the lobby of the hotel, which lies only meters from the Israeli border.
"We know of other people trapped under the ruins of the hotel," rescue worker spokesman Yerucham Mendola told reporters.
Reuters witnesses as saying there were also Russians among hotel quests. Among other foreigners, the British Foreign Office confirmed that two Britons injured in the blast although they were not thought to be seriously hurt, The Scotsman newspaper reported. Egyptian security officials said there were "a large number of wounded".
The Voice of America (VOA) network suggested that rescue work in Taba was hampered by a lack of emergency services. By contrast, nearby Eilat, Israel is a much larger city with several hospitals and clinics.
CAR BOMB
Egyptian television initially said the Taba blast could have been the result of a gas explosion, but police in the region said the blast was caused by a car bomb, the Arabic Aljazeera network added.
The apparent attack was reportedly followed shortly by explosions at two other resort towns in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula popular with Israelis, including around Nuweiba some 100 kilometers (62.5 miles) to the south where Israelis frequently vacation in inexpensive camp grounds.
Thursday, October 7, was the last day of the Jewish festival of Sukkoth and large numbers of Israeli tourists were returning home from vacations at the end of the holiday. Israeli border security had advised visitors not to travel to neighboring Egypt amid fears of Palestinian attacks against Jewish targets, media said.
ISRAEL WARNED
Israel also issued a warning in early September against travel by Israelis to the area citing "a concrete threat" to Israelis, VOA reported. The Palestinian group Hamas had also threatened to carry out attacks in response to the Israeli invasion in Gaza and other actions, which killed at least 80 Palestinians since last week, including militants.
Despite the threats, thousands of Israelis traveled to Egypt’s Sinai peninsula, a popular holiday destination, during the Sukkoth period.
Sinai was captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war but returned to Egypt after a 1979 peace deal, one of few that Israel has with Arab countries. Egyptian border guards initially sealed off the border, but after Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon contacted Egyptian officials, Israeli firefighters and ambulances were allowed into Taba to support rescue operations, officials said.
WESTERNERS WOUNDED
The Foreign Office confirmed last night that two Britons were among those injured in the blast although they were not thought to be seriously hurt. Egyptian security officials said there were "a large number of wounded". Israel sent ambulances and helicopters to evacuate the wounded, several of whom appeared to be in a state of shock.
"The whole front of the hotel has collapsed. There are dozens of people on the floor, lots of blood, it is very tense, Yigal Vakni told Israel’s Army Radio.
"I am standing outside of the hotel, the whole thing is burning and they have nothing to put it out with. There is nothing here."
Hilton International said it had expressed "sincere condolences to the family and friends of those who have been killed and injured as a result" of the blast. Egyptian and Israeli authorities are working together at the scene, a Hilton spokesman reportedly said. The latest attack was expected to fuel a debate about the Roadmap for Peace, a U.S. backed peace plan for the region that also envisages a Palestinian state.
The influential American television preacher Pat Robertson, who was among thousands of Christians from around the world attending Feast of Tabernacle celebrations in Jerusalem, urged President George W. Bush to adjust his Israel policy. Robertson, who ran for president in 1988, said the Roadmap was "dead" and that tens of millions of evangelical Christians in the U.S. would give up their Republican support and start their own party if Bush were "to divide Jerusalem" by giving part of it to Palestinians.
