GAZA CITY, 20 January 2006 — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned yesterday’s bomb attack in Tel Aviv as an attempt to sabotage next week’s legislative elections. “This attack was aimed at sabotaging the elections and the efforts that have been made by the Palestinian Authority,” Abbas told reporters in Ramallah.
“We must bring these renegades, who are breaking the national consensus, to justice,” he added in reference to the Islamic Jihad commanders who ordered the attack.
The Tel Aviv blast, which left around 30 people wounded as well as killing the bomber, was the first attack since the end of a truce at the start of the year which the main factions had agreed with Abbas.
Meanwhile, Israeli police yesterday shut down an office used by Hamas to campaign in East Jerusalem in the parliamentary election on Jan. 25, a police spokesman said.
Israel says Palestinians in East Jerusalem will be allowed to cast their votes at neighborhood post offices in the election. But it has banned Hamas from openly campaigning.
“The office was yet another in a chain of offices that Hamas has used to campaign in the elections,” police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said. He said police have closed down three Hamas campaign offices in the lead up to next week’s poll.
Meanwhile, the bomber raised tensions and confronted interim Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert with a major test.
The bombing at a popular sandwich stand was the first in Israel since Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was incapacitated by a massive stroke on Jan. 4 and could put pressure on Olmert for harsh reprisals in the Palestinian territories. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the bombing.
The bomber targeted a small, open-air sandwich stand on a busy pedestrian mall near Tel Aviv’s old central bus station. Posing as a peddler, he walked in and offered in Hebrew to sell the patrons razor blades. Seconds later, he blew himself up.
“His body was blown in half, his head went one way and his legs the other,” restaurant owner Arieh Sharon told Channel 10 television.
The blast tore down the ceiling of the restaurant, which specialized in grilled meat and falafel, and spewed debris and food in all directions.
Authorities said the bomber was the only fatality but one person was in serious condition. The other injuries were mostly light to moderate, medics said.
Olmert, who took over after Sharon’s stroke and is favored to lead their new centrist Kadima party to victory in a March general election, could face pressure to respond with a strong hand, in keeping with Sharon’s military style.
Israel has demanded that Abbas crack down on militant groups, but he has resisted, saying that would risk civil war.
Israel has increased its raids into the West Bank in search of gunmen because of what security officials have called a heightened security alert in the buildup to the Palestinian election.
Several hundred women at a Hamas election rally in the West Bank city of Ramallah cheered when they heard news of the bombing.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said yesterday that the bombing must not be allowed to undermine upcoming Palestinian elections or derail peace efforts.
“The secretary-general is deeply saddened by the news of today’s bombing in Tel Aviv, in which a number of innocent civilians were wounded,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. “No cause can justify deliberate acts designed to kill or maim civilians.”
Dujarric said Annan called on Palestinians and Israelis “to do their utmost to maintain calm at this difficult moment.” “Those who ordered and carried out this attack must not be allowed to undermine democratic processes, or to derail efforts to promote peace between the parties,” the UN chief added.
— With input from agencies
