Tel Aviv Terror Bombing Shatters Passover Holiday :cry:
By Julie Stahl
CNSNews.com Jerusalem Bureau Chief
April 17, 2006
Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) - At least nine people were killed and about 60 wounded in a suicide terrorist bomb blast in Tel Aviv on Monday that shattered the Passover holiday. The explosion happened around 1:40 p.m. local time at a falafel stand where a suicide bombing took place in January, wounding 15.
Islamic Jihad and the al Aksa Martyrs' Brigades of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas claimed responsibility for the attack. Islamic Jihad is financially backed by and aligns itself ideologically with Iran.
At a recent conference in Tehran, attended by attended by six newly installed Hamas parliamentarians and leaders of Islamic and Palestinian organizations, Iran announced that it would donate $50 million to the Palestinians.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke at the conference last Friday and said that Israel constituted a "threat on the Islamic world," which he vowed to remove soon.
Saeb Erekat, the chief negotiator for the previous Palestinian Authority and a senior aide to Abbas, condemned the attack on behalf of Abbas and urged all Palestinian factions to stop the violence since "such attacks harm Palestinian interests."
Security forces have been on heightened alert for possible terror attacks during the Passover holiday, which began last Wednesday evening. There were some 80 terror alerts, including 19 specific warnings on Monday, reports said.
The attack comes just 19 days after a suicide bomber blew himself up in car that stopped to give him a ride. He killed four Israelis. Monday's attack came just hours before Israel's newly elected parliament was scheduled to take its oath of office.
According to reports, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz was on his way to Jerusalem for security consultations.
Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Israel planned to make Monday's swearing-in of the Knesset a more festive occasion, but he admitted that spirits were dampened by Monday's attack -- a "very difficult incident," he called it.
Olmert said the government is still debating how to react, and he said there is no way to prevent every terror attack, especially when terror organizations are "trying at every moment" to carry out such attacks.
Subscribe to the free CNSNews.com daily E-Brief.
Send a Letter to the Editor about this article.
