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Suicide bomber kills 4 in Tel Aviv
Six reported killed in Israeli helicopter strike in Gaza
Thursday, December 25, 2003 Posted: 11:03 PM EST (0403 GMT)
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- A suicide bombing at a major intersection outside Tel Aviv during rush hour Thursday killed four people and wounded 13, according to Israeli authorities.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine claimed responsibility for the terror attack that also killed the suicide bomber.
The bomber approached a bus stop and blew himself up, Israeli Police Commissioner Shlomo Aharonishki told The Associated Press.
The Israel Defense Forces imposed a full closure on the territories after the suicide attack.
In a written statement from Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the United States "strongly condemns" the "wanton act of terror."
"The United States reiterates the absolute need for urgent action by the Palestinian Authority to confront terror and violence," he said.
The assault was the first suicide bombing in Israel since an October 4 attack in Haifa. That incident killed 21 people.
There has been relative calm since the Haifa bombing, but Avi Pazner, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said Israel has foiled about 35 attempted attacks in the past two months.
Gaza air strike
Thursday's blast occurred shortly after Israel launched a helicopter strike in Gaza, killing six people and injuring 14, Palestinian security and medical sources told CNN.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that among those killed in the air strike was the target of the raid, Maklad Hamid. The IDF said he was a leader of the Al Quds Brigade, the military wing of Islamic Jihad.
The attack marked the first targeted killing by Israel since October. Israel has adopted a policy of targeted killings of members of Palestinian extremist groups to defend against terrorist attacks.
Later, Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed offshoot of Fatah, fired missiles at the Netzarim Jewish settlement in Gaza, the group and Palestinian security sources said.
"We condemn this vicious cycle," said Saeb Erakat, the chief Palestinian negotiator. "And we call upon President Bush personally to ... revive the American role (in the peace process) which provides implementation, a time line and monitors on the ground."
Pazner called Hamid a "ticking bomb" and said he had been about to carry out an "imminent terrorist action."
The U.S. State Department has designated Islamic Jihad a terrorist organization.
Another Islamic Jihad member was killed in the Gaza air strike, as were a Palestinian police officer, an adult civilian and a child, security sources said.
Three rockets were fired from an Israeli helicopter at a car near the Jabalya refugee camp, witnesses and security sources said.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/...ast/index.html
Six reported killed in Israeli helicopter strike in Gaza
Thursday, December 25, 2003 Posted: 11:03 PM EST (0403 GMT)
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- A suicide bombing at a major intersection outside Tel Aviv during rush hour Thursday killed four people and wounded 13, according to Israeli authorities.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine claimed responsibility for the terror attack that also killed the suicide bomber.
The bomber approached a bus stop and blew himself up, Israeli Police Commissioner Shlomo Aharonishki told The Associated Press.
The Israel Defense Forces imposed a full closure on the territories after the suicide attack.
In a written statement from Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the United States "strongly condemns" the "wanton act of terror."
"The United States reiterates the absolute need for urgent action by the Palestinian Authority to confront terror and violence," he said.
The assault was the first suicide bombing in Israel since an October 4 attack in Haifa. That incident killed 21 people.
There has been relative calm since the Haifa bombing, but Avi Pazner, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said Israel has foiled about 35 attempted attacks in the past two months.
Gaza air strike
Thursday's blast occurred shortly after Israel launched a helicopter strike in Gaza, killing six people and injuring 14, Palestinian security and medical sources told CNN.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that among those killed in the air strike was the target of the raid, Maklad Hamid. The IDF said he was a leader of the Al Quds Brigade, the military wing of Islamic Jihad.
The attack marked the first targeted killing by Israel since October. Israel has adopted a policy of targeted killings of members of Palestinian extremist groups to defend against terrorist attacks.
Later, Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed offshoot of Fatah, fired missiles at the Netzarim Jewish settlement in Gaza, the group and Palestinian security sources said.
"We condemn this vicious cycle," said Saeb Erakat, the chief Palestinian negotiator. "And we call upon President Bush personally to ... revive the American role (in the peace process) which provides implementation, a time line and monitors on the ground."
Pazner called Hamid a "ticking bomb" and said he had been about to carry out an "imminent terrorist action."
The U.S. State Department has designated Islamic Jihad a terrorist organization.
Another Islamic Jihad member was killed in the Gaza air strike, as were a Palestinian police officer, an adult civilian and a child, security sources said.
Three rockets were fired from an Israeli helicopter at a car near the Jabalya refugee camp, witnesses and security sources said.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/...ast/index.html