Israel blames Palestinian Authority for bombing

JERUSALEM -- Israel's leaders held the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority responsible for the deadliest suicide bombing in 20 months but stopped short Tuesday of branding it an "enemy entity" or ordering a large-scale military operation.\nInterim Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and key Cabinet ministers instead revoked the Israeli residency rights of three Hamas lawmakers living in Jerusalem, meeting participants said.\nMonday's blast, which killed nine other people and wounded dozens outside a packed Tel Aviv fast-food restaurant, was carried out by a bomber from the Islamic Jihad militant group. However, Hamas leaders defended the attack as a justified response to Israeli "aggression" against the Palestinians.\nOlmert and senior advisers and security chiefs met for two hours Tuesday to weigh a response. The group decided to hold Hamas responsible because it did not denounce the bombing -- a sharp departure from the previous Palestinian leadership's immediate condemnations of such attacks.\n"Israel sees the Palestinian Authority as responsible for what happened yesterday," senior Israeli Foreign Ministry official Gideon Meir said.\nParticipants said Olmert decided against launching a large-scale military operation and blocked a proposal to declare the Palestinian Authority an "enemy entity." Such a declaration would have paved the way for direct strikes against the Palestinian Authority.\nUntil now, economic and political boycotts have been Israel's main tools against the Hamas government.\nAt the White House, President Bush was asked by a reporter whether he had encouraged Israel to show restraint in its response.\n"I have consistently reminded all parties that they must be mindful of whatever actions they take and mindful of the consequences," Bush said. "I strongly deplore the loss of innocent life and the attack on the folks in Israel yesterday. It is unjustified and it is unnecessary.\n"And for those who love peace in the Palestinian territories, they must stand up and reject this kind of violence."\nEarlier, Israel's U.N. ambassador, Dan Gillerman, told the U.N. Security Council that the Hamas government's verbal support for the bombing, as well as recent statements by Iran and Syria, "are clear declarations of war, and I urge each and every one of you to listen carefully and take them at face value."\nGillerman said a new "axis of terror" -- Iran, Syria and the Hamas government -- was sowing the seeds of the first world war of the 21st century.\nIsraeli security chiefs also have proposed tightening travel restrictions, including making it harder for Palestinians to move between different parts of the West Bank and extending a blanket closure of the West Bank and Gaza.\nThe bomber came from the northern West Bank, and the military planned to step up raids in that area. The army also proposed intensifying targeted killings of Islamic Jihad activists.\nIt was not immediately known whether those proposals were adopted Tuesday.\nIn an initial response, Israeli aircraft attacked an empty metal workshop in Gaza City early Tuesday, causing no injuries. The army said the workshop was used by the Popular Resistance Committees militant group to manufacture homemade rockets launched at Israel.\nMonday's bombing was the first inside Israel since Hamas came to power at the end of March. Islamic Jihad threatened more attacks, saying it had trained 70 more potential bombers -- both men and women.\nHamas officials defended the blast as a justified response to Israeli military strikes against the Palestinians. Hamas, which has carried out scores of suicide bombings since the early 1990s, has largely observed a truce since last year but refuses to renounce violence and recognize Israel's right to exist.\nIslamic Jihad, which is believed to be funded in part by Iran, refuses to observe a cease-fire. Hamas officials have said they would not try to stop or arrest members of other militant groups trying to carry out attacks.\nAtef Adwan, a Hamas Cabinet minister, on Tuesday dismissed Israel's claim that the Palestinian Authority is ultimately responsible for the attack.\n"Israel is trying to find a pretext to act against the Palestinian institutions and act against the Palestinian people," he said.\nA confrontation between Israel and Hamas could endanger Hamas' efforts to secure desperately needed international aid and acceptance. The government is broke and has been unable to cover the large public payroll, despite recent aid pledges of $50 million each by Iran and Qatar.\nThe United States and the European Union have cut off hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to the Palestinian Authority following Hamas' victory in legislative elections in January, demanding the group renounce violence and recognize Israel.\nThe United States and EU consider Hamas a terrorist organization.\n"Defense or sponsorship of terrorist acts by officials of the Palestinian Cabinet will have the gravest effects on relations between the Palestinian Authority and all states seeking peace in the Middle East," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said.