OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, 28 March — A Palestinian blew himself up yesterday in a hotel dining room in the resort town of Netanya. Police said 17 people were killed and more than 100 wounded in one of the deadliest attacks in 18 months of intifada.
Al-Jazeera TV station received a claim of responsibility from the Hamas military wing, Izzedine Al Qassam Brigades. The bombing threatened to derail the latest US truce mission, which survived two attacks last week. Only hours earlier, US President George W. Bush said his envoy to the region had made progress in truce talks.
An adviser to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said that while Israel was seeking a truce, it would have to reassess its policy in light of the latest attack. The blast went off in the evening, as the dining hall of the Park Hotel along Netanya’s boardwalk was crowded with guests marking the Passover Seder. The bomber entered the hotel, crossed the lobby and reached the dining hall where he blew himself up, said a local police chief, Aharon Franko.
The explosion tore through the ground floor of the hotel, blowing out walls and overturning tables and chairs. Bits of rubble and wires dangled from the ceiling. Some of the wounded were seen staggering out of the lobby, which was plunged into darkness by the explosion.
Witnesses said they saw five bodies lined up on the pavement, some of them dismembered, including that of a woman in festive holiday clothes.
Israeli police had been on high alert for possible attacks during the Passover holiday, with more than 10,000 officers deployed in potential trouble spots. The country’s police commissioner, Shlomo Aharonishki, said it was impossible to prevent all attacks. “Even with more policemen and a broader deployment, we cannot block the centers of the cities,” Aharonishki said. “This attack is more evidence of that.”
It was not immediately clear how the attack would affect the truce mission of US envoy Anthony Zinni. Earlier this week, Sharon convened his security Cabinet to discuss possible options in the event the truce mission fails. One idea raised was a large-scale military operation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Raanan Gissin, a Sharon adviser, said the attack “will require us to re-evaluate our overall policy.” “We are still working to achieve a cease-fire to which we are fully committed, but if the Palestinians have decided to choose the road of terrorism ... then we have to decide what measures we will take,” Gissin said. Bush denounced the bombing as a “cold-blooded killing” and demanded that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat do everything in his power to halt such violence.
