AFULA, 20 May 2003 — A Palestinian woman blew herself up during a security check outside a mall in northern Israel yesterday, killing three Israelis and wounding dozens in the fifth bombing in 48 hours — a violent challenge to a US-backed Middle East peace initiative and the new Palestinian prime minister.
Yesterday’s blast in the working-class town of Afula near the West Bank was claimed by a militia linked to the ruling Fatah group, proving particularly embarrassing to the Palestinian Prime Minister, Mahmoud Abbas, a Fatah leader, who has denounced violence and promised to rein in the militants.
Israel blamed Yasser Arafat for one of the steepest spikes in violence in nearly three years of an uprising, saying he continues to encourage terror, even if he is not directly involved in planning attacks. Arafat angrily denied the accusations, saying Palestinian security agents have succeeded in foiling several attacks.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon resisted renewed pressure from his Cabinet to expel Arafat, apparently because of US opposition to a step that could derail the road map plan and send the situation spinning further out of control.
US President George Bush said he was determined to push ahead with the peace plan, a prescription for ending violence and setting up a Palestinian state by 2005. “We’re still on the road to peace,” the president said. “It’s just going to be a bumpy road. But I’m not going to get off the road until we achieve the vision.”
The blast in Afula went off at 5:14 p.m. (1414) at a back entrance to the Shaarei Amakim mall where shoppers were waiting in line for a security check. The attacker, identified as Hiba Daraghmeh, 19, from the West Bank village of Tubas, detonated the explosives as she stepped up to security guards, witnesses said.
Two guards, a man and a woman, were among the three people killed. Forty-seven people were wounded, including several who were in serious condition.
The Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade, a militia linked to Fatah, and the Islamic Jihad group both claimed responsibility for the bombings.
The bomber was an English literature student, described as very devout by her father, Azem. Hiba wore a veil, in addition to the traditional headscarf. She left home yesterday afternoon, telling her family she was going to class, her father said.
The latest string of attacks began Saturday evening, just before a Sharon-Abbas meeting, the first Israeli-Palestinian summit since the outbreak of intifada.
Hamas bombers struck in the West Bank city of Hebron on Saturday, twice in Jerusalem on Sunday, and in the Gaza Strip yesterday morning, killing a total of nine Israelis and wounding 23. Three of the bombers were from Hebron.
The attacks come at a time when Abbas and Sharon are in a deadlock over who should make the first move on the new peace plan.
Abbas told Sharon during the summit that the Palestinian security forces could only move against the militias once Israel has accepted the new peace plan. Sharon said he first wants to discuss his objections with Bush. He was to have done so this week, but canceled his Washington trip because of the bombings.
Abbas condemned the Afula bombing, and said the violence helped ease pressure on Sharon to accept the peace plan.
The limbo has left the field open to the hard-liners. Abdel Aziz Rantisi, a Hamas spokesman, said attacks would continue. “As long as the occupation remains on our land, and as long as the occupation soldiers are breathing our air we will continue our resistance,” he said.
Israel’s vice premier, Ehud Olmert, said the Abbas government is weak and will have trouble confronting the militias. He accused the European Union of undermining Abbas by refusing to join Israel and the United States in a boycott of Arafat.
Trying to deepen Arafat’s isolation, Israel decided Sunday to boycott foreign envoys who meet with the Palestinian leader. Arafat has been confined to his compound in the West Bank town of Ramallah for more than a year by Israel.
The European Union said it will continue to meet with Arafat. “The real problem is to promote the road map, and we need to have the necessary contacts to do so,” said Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou, whose country currently holds the EU presidency.
Responding to the Israeli allegations, Arafat told the Associated Press that he opposes violence. “You know that we are from the beginning against these activities, and we are condemning it from the beginning,” he said.
Meanwhile, the UN special envoy for the Middle East peace process said the United Nations would be forced to halt humanitarian work in Gaza unless Israel eased its grip on a key border crossing.
“In the current situation, it has become already impossible to carry out many humanitarian operations in a satisfactory manner,” Terje Roed-Larsen told the UN Security Council in a briefing.
Roed-Larsen, who oversees UN humanitarian operations in the region, said he planned to meet with Israeli Foreign Ministry officials to discuss Israel’s recent closure of the Erez crossing between Gaza and Israel to all except those holding diplomatic passports. The new security measures were introduced after a bombing in Tel Aviv on April 30. The clampdown at the crossing has left UN workers stranded on either side of the border.
