Posted on 08/12/2003 11:02:21 AM PDT by IsraelBeach
Terror returns: Two suicide bombers kill two, wound dozen By THE JERUSALEM POST INTERNET STAFF
Yechezkiel Yakutieli, 42, killed in the suicide bombing at Rosh Ha'ayin on Tuesday, 12th August, 2003. (Bar Tal Shalom) Suicide bombers killed two Israelis and wounded more than a dozen in two attacks within a half hour of each other this morning.
A shopping mall in Rosh Ha'ayin, an eastern suburb of Tel Aviv, was the scene of the first attack at about 9 a.m. One Israeli was killed. Rosh Ha'ayin is several miles west Elkana, where the security fence that is under construction ends at the moment.
A second Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance of the West Bank town of Ariel, killing one and wounding two others.
Government officials angrily denounced the attacks and placed the blame on the Palestinian Authority for failing to crack down on terrorists during the six weeks of the cease-fire.
In a speech soon after the bombing Prime Minister Ariel Sharon warned that the peace process would stall unless the Palestinian Authority worked to "stop completely the terrorist organizations operating in Palestinian cities."
Hamas claimed responsibility for today's Ariel bombing, while members of Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement said they had carried out the Rosh Ha'ayin attack. The two bombers were each 17, and lived near each other in Nablus, but there was reported to be no connection between the two.
In Rosh Ha'ayin, police reported a huge blast, followed by fire. The blast ripped off the entrances of the Nu-Pharm pharmacy and Hatzi Kupa supermarket in the Rosh Ha'ayin shopping mall.
Police closed off the entrances to the nearby towns of Ra'anana and Kfar Saba, as they searched for a third suicide bomber. Early unconfirmed intelligence reports were that the three bombers came from the West Bank in a single vehicle.
Later, however, IDF Samaria area commander Har-el Knafo said the two bombings were not linked, even though both came from Nablus, and there is increasing cooperation and a blurring of party lines among terror groups.
Knafo said there is no cease-fire as far as he is concerned. The army and police have stopped 10 suicide bombers in recent weeks, two of whom already were wearing bomb belts.
Police in Rosh Ha'ayin said one Israeli was killed, and another 10 were injured in the attack. Six of the wounded were reported in light condition, with two in moderate condition. One was in surgery at Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva.
Jerusalem Post correspondent Arieh O'Sullivan, in Ariel, said the suicide bomber approached the Ariel bus stop and hitchhiking spot on foot. The stop is outside the city's gates, by a supermarket and gas station that have been the scene of two previous suicide bombings.
The terrorist aroused the suspicion of four people at the bus stop, and as he approached them, he detonated an explosive charge killing one, himself, and wounding two others. It is possible soldiers were involved, but initial reports have been contradictory.
(Click here to read about Ariel, the scene of two terror attacks in 2002.)
Supermarket checkout clerk Ludmilla Aldov, 47, told O'Sullivan today's incident was the third she had seen.
"What can I do? I need to work," said Aldov, an immigrant from Ukraine who has lived in Ariel for three years. "I keep on coming."
Security forces were immediately placed on the highest alert in the Sharon region because of a suspicion that a third bomber was still driving a car that may have dropped off the other two. Dozens of roadblocks were established and patrols were increased in residential and commercial areas. Traffic came to a standstill throughout the Sharon region north of Tel Aviv.
Polcie stopped a car meeting the description of one seen at the two incidents at Yakir Junction in Samaria, but it was later released.
In other developments related to the suicide bombings:
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas cut short his trip to the Persian Gulf to return to the Palestinian territories. Abbas condemned the bombings, but has been critical of Israeli actions in recent days.
The White House had no immediate comment on the suicide bombings, which occurred about 3 a.m. Washington time.
Buses carrying more than 70 Palestinian prisoners to release were turned around in the middle of their trips and returned to prisons.
Joel Leyden, Matthew Gutman, Arieh O'Sullivan, Gila Fine, and Associated Press contributed to this report.
Those Fatah-Hamas idiots will probably keep doing this sort of thing, which will be good for Israel in the long run. Looks like those people have no concept of waging war except blood as quickly as possible.
Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas)is the dangerous one, he knows what he is about.
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