OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, 13 August 2003 — In apparent response to an Israeli raid on a West Bank refugee camp last week that killed four Palestinians, teenage Palestinian bombers attacked a shopping plaza in Israel and a bus stop in a Jewish settlement less than an hour apart yesterday. Two Israelis were killed.
Hamas claimed responsibility for the West Bank blast, while renegades in the Fatah movement said they had carried out the Rosh Haayin attack.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon warned that he would not move forward with an already troubled US-backed peace plan “if terrorism doesn’t cease completely.” Israel postponed a release of 76 Palestinian prisoners, none of them involved in anti-Israeli violence, who were to have been freed yesterday. Some of the detainees had already boarded buses when they were called back.
“Today’s operation is a response to the Zionist violations to the suspension of operations and a revenge for the assassination of our members in Nablus,” Hamas’ armed wing, Ezzedin Al-Qassam Brigades, said in a statement.
The bombers in both the Ariel and Rosh Haayin attacks were from the Askar refugee camp in Nablus where the Aug. 9 Israeli raid took place, family members said.
The Ezzedin Al-Qassam Brigades stressed that the attack was in response to a specific Israeli operation and reiterated its commitment to the truce which its political leadership declared.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmud Abbas placed the blame for the new bout of unrest on Israel. “The truce is in danger of imploding if Israel continues its attacks on the Palestinians,” Abbas said while on a trip to Qatar.
Israel sealed Nablus and imposed a curfew on surrounding villages.
The first bomber struck in Rosh Haayin, a bedroom community not far from Tel Aviv and the West Bank. The blast went off at the entrance to a supermarket and pharmacy in a small shopping center, sparking a large fire and leaving a mass of twisted blinds and shattered glass.
The bomber and a bystander were killed, and nine Israelis wounded, one seriously.
A short time later, another Palestinian blew himself up at a bus stop near the entrance to Ariel, killing an 18-year-old Israeli Army recruit and seriously injuring two others.
The Ariel bomber was identified as Islam Yousef Qteishat, 17.
The second attacker was identified as Khamis Ghazi Gerwan, 17, a Fatah follower.
A political leader of Hamas in Gaza, Ismail Hanieh, suggested that now the score had been evened, the group would return to observing the cease-fire. Asked whether Hamas was calling off the truce, he said: “No, this is a reaction to the continuous violation (of the truce) by Israel.”
Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz cut short a personal trip to Europe, but it appeared unlikely Israel would order a large-scale military action in response to the bombings. Sharon did not change his itinerary or convene his security Cabinet, as is customary after major attacks.
