JERUSALEM, 16 March 2004 — Israeli helicopters attacked Gaza City by raining rockets early yesterday in response to a twin suicide bombing that killed 10 Israelis in a heavily guarded Israeli seaport.
Israel will also intensify assassinations of Palestinians in retaliation for Sunday’s bombing in Ashdod port, the first deadly attack on a strategic target in Israel in more than three years of fighting, a senior official said. He suggested that leaders of militant groups, occasionally targeted in the past, will not be immune.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon cited the attack in a speech to his Parliament and ruled out peace negotiations with the Palestinians. The attack shows that “there is no Palestinian leader with the courage, the ability, to struggle against terrorism,” Sharon said. “Clearly, in this situation, there will be no political negotiations.”
Palestinian Cabinet Minister Saeb Erekat called Sharon’s pronouncement a “grave development.” Erekat said, “This was a very grave development which will not add anything to the efforts to revive the peace process.” The attack sent Israeli officials scrambling to discover security breaches.
The bombers, 17-year-old high school students from a Gaza refugee camp, managed to slip into Israel despite a heavily patrolled fence ringing the strip; one of their handlers said he believed they crawled through a tunnel. The assailants also evaded tight security at the port and used high-grade plastic explosives.
Early yesterday, Israeli helicopters fired rockets in Gaza City, causing some damage, but no injuries. Sharon was awaiting the return of Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz from a US trip later today before deciding on possible larger-scale strikes.
Israel closed the Erez Crossing, barring some 19,000 Gaza workers from jobs in Israel. Police also stepped up security at all Israeli seaports, airports and train stations. Amos Ron, director of Israel’s Ports Authority, said bomb-sniffing dogs would begin patrolling Ashdod port in the coming days.
A militant leader in Gaza said the bombers had intended to blow up fuel storage tanks in Ashdod, heightening Israeli concerns that militants are trying to carry out a “mega attack” with hundreds of casualties. However, the explosions went off several hundred meters from the fuel tanks.
Hamas and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade, a group with ties to Yasser Arafat’s Fatah movement, claimed joint responsibility.
The intended target, the use of plastic explosives, the cooperation between militant groups and the fact that Palestinian bombers managed to slip out of Gaza for the first time since 2000 were all seen as signals of escalation in tactics.
One Al-Aqsa leader in Gaza, who identified himself only as Abu Qusay, said in an interview that “this is a message to the Israelis that all their walls and fences cannot prevent us from infiltrating Israel and doing whatever we want.” Abu Qusay said the militant groups were trying to carry out more devastating attacks. “We planned this attack to be a major one, to target their infrastructure, to show them that not only can we kill you, but destroy your infrastructure as well, like you destroy ours,” he said.
