Netanya late Tuesday, July 12, after a suicide bomber blew himself up, killing at least three people and shattering a five-month old truce, police and local media said. Israel’s Haaretz newspaper said on its website that an Islamic Jihad suicide bomber killed three women and injured 90, five seriously, near the Sharon shopping mall in Netanya.
The bomber was identified as 18-year-old Ahmed Abu Khalil from the West Bank village of Atil. He reportedly blew himself up on a pedestrian crossing close to the entrance of the mall.
The explosion happened just 12 kilometers (8 miles) from the West Bank, which has been a common target for bombers during the Palestinian uprising since 2000. "We heard an explosion, people began to scream and ran to the other exit of the mall," Laura, a shop assistant at the mall told Israeli radio, Reuters news agency reported.
At a consultation with Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, intelligence officials said that the Islamic Jihad terror network had made a strategic decision to disrupt the disengagement plan by carrying out a series of suicide bombings, Haaretz repored. The officials reeportedly said the group was trying to drag Hamas into joining this effort to undermine the Gaza pullout.
Reuters quoted security sources as saying that at least 30 people were wounded. Shortly before the Netanya attack, a car reportedly exploded in a Jewish settlement in the West Bank.
BOTCHED CAR BOMBING
Police believe the explosion was a botched car bombing that went awry when the explosives detonated prematurely, the Voice Of America (VOA) network reported from the region. The driver of the car was reportedly captured.
The incidents are seen as coming at a sensitive time as Israel prepares to withdraw its settlement from the Gaza Strip and small portions of the West Bank.
In a first reaction to media, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the bombing was the work of those who want to sabotage the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Palestinian areas and a return to the peace process.
INCREASE PRESSURE
"The attack is sure to increase pressure on the Palestinian leadership to control the militants", commented VOA reporter Sonja Pace in Jerusalem.
Violence had dropped sharply since Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared a ceasefire in February, analysts in the region said.
The last suicide bombing reportedly killed five Israelis on February 25 outside a nightclub in Tel Aviv, before militant groups agreed to respect a period of calm to the end of the year. (With Stefan J. Bos and reports from Israel).
