Well, we hadn’t heard from the Israelis or the Palestinians much lately, so Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades or Islamic Jihad (your pick) apparently figured it was time to step up to the table…or something.
A suicide bomber blew himself up at a shopping mall in the Israeli town of Netanya. At least, five people whose only crime apparently is that they were Israeli citizens who happened to be frequenting the mall are dead and dozens more are injured. Four of the five killed have been identified. They are Alexandra Zrnitzki, 65, of Netanya was killed, along with Ayala Rosen, 38, of Beit Hefer. Nahariya resident Daniel Golani, 45, died, as did Haim Amram, 26, a Netanya resident.
Initial reports said the Palestinian militant group the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades had claimed it was behind the explosion in the central seaside city. Later Islamic Jihad said it was responsible. Islamic Jihad identified the bomber as Lutfi Amin Abu Salem, a resident of the northern West Bank village of Kafr Rai, located between the towns of Jenin and Tulkarm.
Imad Abu Diab, a leader of the Islamic Jihad in Tulkarm, told The Jerusalem Post that "the tahdiya (or "calm") no longer exists and that operations against Israel will continue as long as there is occupation." The Islamic Jihad is the only terror and/or resistance organization that is not a signatory to the Palestinian factions' tahdiya.
Khidr Habib, a spokesman for Islamic Jihad who neither claimed nor denied responsibility for the blast said he believed that the attack "comes in the context of a natural reaction of the Palestinian people and resistance forces toward ongoing Israeli crimes". He told Aljazeera: "These crimes have reached extreme limits and we can not remain silent. We will not stand motionless in front of Israeli oppression, as we reject being humiliated. "Our people will respond to these ongoing Israeli crimes. Our Palestinian people have offered many martyrs and would continue its efforts to give thousands of martyrs to defend our dignity."
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas condemned the bombing and ordered the arrest of those involved, his office said in a statement.
"We will hunt down those responsible for this terrorist attack," Abbas said in a statement released by the PA in Ramallah. "These operations against civilians cause the greatest damage to our commitment to the peace process... and the Palestinian Authority will not show indulgence towards anyone who is found responsible for this operation," the statement said.
Ra'anan Gissin, spokesman for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said in response to the bombing, “"It's obvious that the Palestinian Authority is showing no intention to take real steps to dismantle or disarm the terrorist organizations,". The bombing was "a direct consequence of not taking these steps." He further accused Syria, Iran and Hizbullah of encouraging terrorism in Israel "for the purpose of scuttling the process that seemed to be gaining momentum," but added that this did not absolve the PA of responsibility. He warned that Israel would not be limited in any way in its response. He added, “We feel free to take whatever action necessary to protect our citizens, including targeting killings of those who perpetrate those actions. If they are not brought to justice, we will bring justice to them”.
Labor Party leader Amir Peretz said, "We in the peace camp see terror as the number one enemy of peace. We would do everything necessary to anyone who uses terror to threaten Israelis. As peace people, we would have even more of a right to fight back against terror. This is not a time for politics. It's a time to be there for the families and the soldiers."
Regarding an Israeli response, Peretz, who serves as opposition leader, cautioned that Israel should "be careful before assigning blame" and should "check the impact [of the bombing] on the [Palestinian] elections. The PA has an interest in making sure terror doesn't come from its territory," he said, but added, "The people who want to rule have to prove that they can rule without allowing terrorist attacks to happen."
Whatever, the Israel Defense Forces were preparing Monday evening for a wide-spread retaliatory operation in the northern Gaza Strip.
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, speaking on Israeli radio, said he was seeking approval to resume a policy of demolishing the homes of bombers that Israel had suspended in February after the start of a truce with Palestinians. He told Army Radio the IDF is preparing to cross back into the Gaza Strip in the coming hours.
Military sources said such an operation was liable to last "several weeks or even a month."
Mofaz on Monday afternoon appealed to Attorney General Menachem Mazuz to allow the IDF to resume demolishing homes belonging to Palestinian suicide bombers.
This despite the fact that last February, a military committee appointed by then IDF chief of staff Moshe Ya'alon to examine the policy of house demolitions recommended stopping them. The committee, headed by Major General Udi Shani, of the General Staff, reached the conclusion that no effective deterrence was proven, except in a few cases, and that the damage to Israel caused by the demolitions was greater than the benefits because the deterrence, limited if at all, paled in comparison to the hatred and hostility toward Israel that the demolitions provoked among the Palestinians.
All in all, its déjà vu all over again. Sources: EuroNews, Jerusalem Post, Aljazeera, Haaretz, WAFA-Palestine News Agency, AKI (Italy), YnetNews
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