Bombing in Tel Aviv..still leaves me with hope..
Israel blamed Syria, which has allowed Islamic Jihad leaders to operate from Damascus for many years. Meanwhile, Israeli and Palestinian security forces each made arrests in the West Bank, and Israel said it was freezing plans to hand over security control to the Palestinians in several West Bank towns.
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| Survivors of the attack comforted each other as authorities and medical personnel tended to the dead and wounded. |
Armed Palestinian factions have traditionally claimed responsibility immediately after suicide bombings. But Islamic Jihad leaders repeatedly denied involvement until Saturday evening, when the group released a video and posted a message on its Web site saying it was behind the bombing at a Tel Aviv night club that killed 4 Israelis and wounded about 50. It was the first such bombing inside Israel in nearly four months.
An Islamic Jihad official, identified only as Abu Tarek, said on the Web site that a one-month pause in attacks was over and would not be extended because Israel had continued to kill and arrest Palestinians.
"As long as the other side is not committed, there will be a response from our side," he said.
Also, a video left by the bomber, Abdullah Badran, 21, showed him next to Islamic Jihad flags vowing to avenge the deaths of Palestinians. In a statement, he sharply criticized the Palestinian Authority, accusing it of collaborating with the United States and Israel.
Overall violence has sharply fallen in the past month, and an informal truce announced Feb. 8 by Israel's prime minister, Ariel Sharon, and the Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, has mostly been holding. Some Palestinians had been killed and arrested, but Israel said these actions were in response to planned or actual attacks.
Islamic Jihad's bombing and what appears to be its intention to carry out more attacks places Mr. Abbas in an extremely difficult position. Israel is demanding that Mr. Abbas confront the armed factions, arrest their members and seize their weapons.
He has sought to coax the factions into halting attacks, calling them counterproductive to the Palestinian goal of statehood.
Commenting before Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility, Mr. Abbas said the bombing was the work of a "third party" and an attempt "to sabotage the peace and calm that was agreed on by all the factions."
Mr. Abbas, speaking at the Palestinian political headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah, added: "We will not hesitate for one moment to follow them and to bring them to justice. We will not allow anybody, whoever he is, to sabotage our aims."
The Israeli security forces arrested five suspects, and the Palestinian security forces picked up three more near the West Bank town of Tulkarm, the two sides said. Mr. Badran, the bomber, came from a nearby village, Deir al Ghoson.
Israeli officials said the military was not planning a major response. Officials on both sides were treating the bombing as an extremely serious matter, but said they were abiding by their commitments to end violence.
The arrests by the Palestinian security forces and Mr. Abbas's explicit criticism of the bombers contrasted with the responses by his predecessor, Yasir Arafat, to such attacks.
Under Mr. Arafat, who died in November, the Palestinian leadership routinely issued brief statements denouncing bombings, but rarely, if ever, took steps to act against those responsible.
The Israeli defense minister, Shaul Mofaz, also blamed Syria for the bombing in Tel Aviv. Israel has long criticized Syria for harboring Islamic Jihad.
Mr. Mofaz added that Israel was suspending talks with the Palestinians on handing over control in five West Bank towns, including Tulkarm.
In recent years, many suicide bombers have come from Tulkarm, which is just inside the West Bank and a short distance from Israeli cities. But Israel has built its separation barrier next to Tulkarm, forcing attackers to take a much longer route through the West Bank before reaching Israel.
Mr. Badran most likely slipped into Israel by going around the barrier, or through one of the gates, but his exact route to the Tel Aviv beach front was still not clear.
Islamic Jihad is a small faction, but it has carried out many of the suicide bombings and other attacks against Israel. The group is committed to the destruction of Israel and has always rejected peace negotiations.
Before Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility, there was widespread speculation that the Lebanese group Hezbollah had sponsored the attack. Much of that speculation was coming from the Palestinian security forces, though Mr. Abbas did not blame Hezbollah.
Hezbollah, in a statement released in Lebanon, denied any role in the bombing. The Israelis have long accused Hezbollah of assisting the Palestinian factions.
"From our point of view, it doesn't matter who is executing an attack," said Gideon Meir, a senior official in Israel's Foreign Ministry. "We have always had one address the government that is responsible, and in this case it is the Palestinian Authority."
Israel has generally praised the efforts of Mr. Abbas, who persuaded the factions to agree to a temporary halt to attacks against Israel. But the factions say they are not bound by the truce that Mr. Abbas and Mr. Sharon announced.
"No one on our side is writing off" Mr. Abbas, said Mark Regev, a spokesman for Israel's Foreign Ministry. "He is seen as a partner, and the hope is he'll do the right thing."
He added: "We expect him to move against the infrastructure of terror. As long as these groups remain armed, they have the ability to torpedo the process."
The bomber's family announced by loudspeaker that Mr. Badran had carried out a "martyrdom operation."
But the mood in his West Bank village was subdued and without celebration, as has often been the case with such attacks, Reuters reported. Read more...
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The Ice Palace notes:
"....He has sought to coax the factions into halting attacks, calling them counterproductive to the Palestinian goal of statehood.
Commenting before Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility, Mr. Abbas said the bombing was the work of a "third party" and an attempt "to sabotage the peace and calm that was agreed on by all the factions."
Mr. Abbas, speaking at the Palestinian political headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah, added: "We will not hesitate for one moment to follow them and to bring them to justice. We will not allow anybody, whoever he is, to sabotage our aims."
Hats off to Mr. Abbas! The slimeball Arafat would have given the family of the suicide bomber a "nudge-nudge, wink-wink" out of one side of his face while issuing a "mild verbal slap on the wrist" with the other side. Mr. Abbas seems truly committed to once and for all bringing peace to the middle east, and he seems equally committed to hunting down the slimeballs who perpetrated this heinous act.
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