At 4:00 PM local time, a Palestinian blew himself in a crowded Israeli market trying to kill as many Israeli civilians as possible.

The Palestinian homicide/suicide bomber is part of the PFLP, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. This group wishes for the destruction of Israel and the creation of a Palestinian state instead. It is responsible for the murder of Rahavam Ze'evi, who was Israel's Minister of Tourism when he was killed.

"Two bodies were found at the scene of the attack, one of which was most likely that of the suicide bomber. Two other Israelis succumbed to their injuries after reaching the hospital. One of the injured was in critical condition, eight were in serious condition, five sustained moderate wounds, and the rest were lightly injured"

I copy the full article below.

Three killed, 56 injured in suicide attack in Netanya
By Tamara Traubman, Amit Ben Aroya and Ran Reznick, Ha'aretz Correspondents, Ha'aretz Service and Agencies
http://news.haaretz.co.il/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=165606

Three people were killed and at least 56 people were injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a fruit and vegetable market in the coastal town of Netanya at around 4:20 P.M. on Sunday.

Two bodies were found at the scene of the attack, one of which was most likely that of the suicide bomber. Two other Israelis succumbed to their injuries after reaching the hospital.

One of the injured was in critical condition, eight were in serious condition, five sustained moderate wounds, and the rest were lightly injured.

According to initial reports the bomber arrived at the market in a taxi, and was wearing an IDF uniform. Both Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine took responsibility for the attack.

The Islamic fundamentalist Hamas declared over the weekend that it would continue to carry out suicide attacks inside Israel.

The injured were being evacuated to Laniado Hospital in Netanya, Hillel Yaffe Hospital in Hadera, and Meir Hospital in Kfar Saba.

The police received a warning of a possible terror attack in the Sharon area at around 4 P.M. As a result, forces were beefed up along the Green Line border with the West Bank.

"There was a sharp explosion," a witness, who gave his name as Baruch, told Israel Radio. He said the market was relatively empty at the start of the Israeli work week.

Netanya, close to the border with the West Bank, has been a frequent target of Palestinian suicide bombers. The Seder night suicide bombing on March 27 at the Park Hotel in Netanya, killed 29 people and precipitated the IDF offensive in the West Bank two days later. (Click here for chronology of suicide attacks)

"Anyone who thought that the Palestinian terror campaign against Israelis is over is completely mistaken," said David Baker, an official at Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's office, speaking shortly after the blast. "The Palestinian terror campaign continues unabated, as does Israel's battle against terror."

Two weeks ago, Israel planned an incursion into the Gaza Strip after 15 people were killed in a suicide bombing in Rishon Letzion on May 7, but the operation was called off in the face of international pressure. At the time, aides to Sharon also blamed some cabinet ministers for leaking details of the operation.

Vice-president Dick Cheney: Arafat must rein in militants

Vice President Dick Cheney said Sunday, following the Netanya attack, that Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat must rein in Palestinian militants, while acknowledging that Arafat cannot control all of them.

"I think there clearly is a class of bombings that he can't" rein in, Cheney said on NBC television.

He named the militant organizations Hezbollah and Hamas "that don't come under his purview and that have in the past indicated they're prepared to do everything they can to destroy the peace process."

"On the other hand, there have in the past been bombings by elements of Palestinian organizations that come under his control and there he clearly has the capacity to act," Cheney said.

"We've got to find a way to get a handle on it, because we're not going to get that peace process back on track until the violence ends," Cheney said.

The vice president also warned that if suicide bombers "achieve their desired results" in the Middle East, it would heighten the possibility they use the tactic in the United States. "I think there's a real possibility that we may see that kind of thing here or in other open societies," he said.

National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice said the attack underlines the need to press forward with the peace process and to reform the Palestinian Authority's security apparatus.

"When something like this happens, it should underscore why we need to get the process moving forward," Rice told CNN's "Late Edition" program.

"It underscores the importance of the reform of the Palestinian Authority ... of getting a unified security apparatus that can be accountable and can deal with issues of terrorism and breaking up terrorist networks," she added.

"It simply underscores the importance of doing something
about terror as a weapon in the Middle East," she said.

"People who do these sorts of things clearly do not want the Palestinian people to achieve their dream of a Palestinian state, because Israel is not going to be able to live with a Palestinian state in an atmosphere of terror."

Emergency numbers:
Laniado Hospital in Netanya: 1255191
Hillel Yaffeh Hospital in Hadera: 1255166
Meir Hospital in Kfar Saba: 1255199

Posted by David Melle
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