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Thursday, Dec. 19
The Indiana Daily Student

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Suicide bomber kills 9 in Tel Aviv

Hamas defends attack, blames Israel's 'aggression'

TEL AVIV, Israel -- A Palestinian suicide bomber struck a packed fast-food restaurant during Passover on Monday, killing nine other people and wounding dozens in the deadliest attack in more than a year.\nIn a sharp departure from the previous Palestinian government's condemnations of bombings, the Hamas-led administration said the attack resulted from Israel's "brutal aggression." The bloodshed and the hard-line stance could set the stage for harsh Israeli reprisals and endanger Palestinian efforts to secure desperately needed international aid.\nIsrael said it held Hamas responsible for the attack -- even though another group claimed responsibility -- and Israel's security chiefs were meeting later Monday to discuss what action to take. Security officials said a ground operation in Gaza was not being considered.\nThe attack occurred just two hours before Israel's newly elected parliament was sworn into office, and Prime Minister-designate Ehud Olmert said Israel would react to the bombing with appropriate means.\nThe White House condemned the attack and warned of grave consequences for the new Palestinian government.\n"It is a despicable act of terror for which there is no excuse or justification," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said. "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."\nThe European Union, which has cut off aid to the Hamas-led government, also denounced the bombing and called for restraint by both sides.\nIslamic Jihad, which has close ties to Iran, claimed responsibility for the attack, the first in Israel since the Hamas Cabinet took office 2 1/2 weeks ago.\nThe blast came amid a sharp increase in fighting between Israel and the Palestinians across the Gaza border. Militants have fired barrages of homemade rockets at Israel, and Israel has responded with artillery fire. A 17-year-old Palestinian in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya was killed Monday in the shelling, Palestinian officials said.\nThe suicide bombing took place about 1:40 p.m. when the bomber, carrying a bag stuffed with 10 pounds of explosives, approached "The Mayor's Falafel" restaurant in a busy neighborhood near Tel Aviv's central bus station. The restaurant, which had been the target of a bombing in January, was packed with Israelis on vacation during the weeklong Passover holiday.\nA guard outside was checking the bomber's bag when the device exploded, police and witnesses said.\n"Suddenly there was a boom. The whole restaurant flew in the air," said Azi Otmazgo, 35, who was wounded on his hands, foot and head.\nThe bomb, laced with nails and other projectiles, shattered car windshields, smashed windows of nearby buildings and blew away the restaurant's sign. Glass shards and blood splattered the ground. Police said the guard was torn in half by the blast.\nThe explosion killed a woman standing near her husband and children, who were slightly wounded, said Israel Yaakov, another witness.\n"The father was traumatized. He went into shock. He ran to the children to gather them up, and the children were screaming, 'Mom! Mom!' and she wasn't answering; she was dead already," he said.\nThe wounded were treated on sidewalks. One man was lying on his side, his shirt pushed up and his back covered by bandages. A bleeding woman was wheeled away on a stretcher.\n"Everything was a mess. Everything was blood. I saw half a body -- I don't know if it was the terrorist or the guard," said a witness who gave his name as Bentzi.\nPolice said nine civilians and the bomber were killed and dozens of others were wounded.\nThe attack was the deadliest since a double suicide bombing on two buses in the southern city of Beersheba killed 16 people on Aug. 31, 2004. It was the second major Passover bombing in four years. A 2002 attack at a hotel in the coastal town of Netanya killed 29 people and triggered a major Israeli military offensive.\nIsraeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Gideon Meir said the government held Hamas responsible for the attack because it is "giving support to all the other terrorist organizations."\n"From our point of view it doesn't matter if it comes from Al Aqsa, Islamic Jihad or Hamas. They all come out of the same school of terrorism led by Hamas," Meir said.\nHamas, responsible for dozens of suicide bombings in recent years, has largely observed a 16-month truce with Israel. Yet in a sharp departure from previous government's immediate condemnations of such attacks, Hamas leaders defended the bombing.\n"We think that this operation ... is a direct result of the policy of the occupation and the brutal aggression and siege committed against our people," said Khaled Abu Helal, spokesman for the Hamas-led Interior Ministry.\nThe moderate Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas of the rival Fatah party, condemned the bombing, and said he had ordered Palestinian security forces to prevent future attacks.\nAbbas is currently in a power struggle with Hamas, and it remains unclear who is ultimately in charge of the Palestinians' security forces.

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