Israeli suicide attack wounds 5

2005-08-28 09:03

Beersheva - A suicide bomber blew himself up and wounded five people on Sunday near a bus station in southern Israel in the first Palestinian attack since the pullout from Gaza, witnesses and police said.

Two of those who were wounded in Beersheva were in a serious condition in what was the first Palestinian attack since Israel evicted all of its settlers from the Gaza Strip.

Police and witnesses said that the attacker had blown up himself after not being allowed to enter the bus by two security guards and a bus driver.

"We have avoided what could have been a very major attack thanks to their vigilance," Uri Rosen, the southern district police commander told Israeli radio.

The attack comes almost exactly a year to the day after 15 Israelis were killed in a twin attack on two buses in Beersheva.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the latest attack but it came just four days after five militants were killed by Israeli troops during an arrest operation in the West Bank town of Tulkarem.

The radical Islamic Jihad group said at the time that the "enemy should prepare coffins" for an attack "deep within Israel".

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has argued that his controversial pullout of settlers and troops from the Gaza Strip would improve the security of Israelis.

Right-wing critics however have claimed that it merely serves to encourage militant groups who have been portraying the pullout as an act of surrender.

Groups such as Islamic Jihad and the larger Hamas movement are meant to be observing a truce agreement.

However, while there has been a significant decline in Palestinian attacks since the start of the year, the truce has been less than watertight.

Five Israelis were killed on July 13 when an Islamic Jihad activist blew himself up near a shopping mall in the coastal city of Netanya.

The Israeli military said that all five who were killed during the arrest operation in Tulkarem on Wednesday night were wanted in connection with the attack.

Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas has been urging radical groups to hold their fire during the Israeli pullout from Gaza in order to strengthen the case for independence.

The pullout of settlers from Gaza, which was completed last Monday, passed off largely peacefully with Israeli authorities expressing their satisfaction with the levels of security cooperation from the Palestinian Authority.

Despite Abbas's frequent criticism of the use of weapons during the near five-year Palestinian uprising, or intifada, Hamas and Islamic Jihad have both refused to contemplate handing over their arms.

- SAPA