OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, 25 April 2003 — A Palestinian killed an Israeli yesterday when he blew himself up at a railway station in northern Israel, hours after Palestinian leaders agreed on a new government pledged to crack down on militant groups.
The bomber was sent by a splinter group of Fatah.
He blew himself up when 23-year-old security guard Alexander Kostyuk, checking passengers at the entrance of a newly opened railway station in the town of Kfar Saba, tried to prevent him from passing, Israeli radio said.
The guard’s attention was caught by the thick black overcoat the bomber was wearing despite high spring temperatures, the radio said.
The Palestinian triggered his device at rush hour when the guard approached with his metal detector, killing both of them.
Thirteen other people were wounded, according to a police toll, including a security guard who was preparing to relieve his colleague for the morning shift.
The bomber was identified as 18-year-old Ahmad Khaled Khatib, a Palestinian from the northern West Bank town of Nablus. He lived in the nearby town of Qalqilya, which lies just across the green line separating Israel from Palestinian territory. The rebel Fatah faction has repeatedly ignored cease-fire calls by Palestinian President Arafat, who condemned the bombing.
The first bombing in almost a month came as a stark reminder of the daunting task facing Mahmoud Abbas, only hours after he thrashed out a landmark deal with Arafat to form a new government.
The main bone of contention in painful negotiations between the two Fatah co-founders to agree on a new Cabinet line-up surrounded the crucial position of interior security minister. Arafat had refused Abbas’ choice of former Gaza security chief Mohammad Dahlan, seen as one of the few men willing and capable of curbing violence by militias. In the end, the Palestinian leader yielded in a last-minute deal which clears the way for the release of an international peace plan.
Israel, which backed the creation of Abbas’ position as a means of weakening Arafat’s grip on power, was swift to remind the Palestine Liberation Organization second-in-command that the Kfar Saba bombing left no room for talks with radical Palestinian factions.
Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said the attack “proves that Israel is right to demand the end of all terrorist acts before the renewal of negotiations with the Palestinians”.
In a village northwest of the West Bank city of Ramallah, two Palestinians were killed by Israeli troops who opened fire on a group of youths.
The latest violence poured cold water on the enthusiasm that had followed the agreement between Arafat and Abbas and echoed warnings issued by Hamas for the premier-designate not to attempt any action against them. “No government can make war against the Mujahedeen,” said senior Hamas leader Abdul Aziz Al-Rantisi.
The new government will be unveiled before Abbas submits it to parliament on Sunday or Monday, a Palestinian official told AFP. The Israeli press did not wait, however, to celebrate the confirmation of Arafat’s marginalization. The right-wing Jerusalem Post wrote in a jubilant article entitled “Bye-bye, Yasser” that the outcome of the weeks of wrangling between Abbas and Arafat amounted to a “silent coup”.
