At least 11 Israelis were killed and dozens more were injured Saturday evening when a suicide bomber blew himself up in Jerusalem. The bombing took place at the entrance of the Moment cafe.
The attack took place approximately 100 meters from the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's official residence. Sharon was not there at the time.
Jerusalem Police Chief Mickey Levy said the assailant walked into the cafe and detonated explosives. "This is a very, very serious attack," Levy saidDozens of Israelis were injured Saturday evening when a suicide bomber blew himself up in Jerusalem, Israel Radio reported.
The military wing of Hamas also claimed responsibility for the Jerusalem attack. The bomber was identified as Isma'il al Hourani from Al Aroob refugee camp near the West Bank city of Hebron.
Natanya
Jerusalem suicide bombing attack took place two hours after two Palestinian gunmen fired at cars and pedestrians in the coastal city of Netanya, located north of Tel Aviv, on Saturday evening.
One Israeli woman and one male were killed and 50 others were wounded. Later, a baby died of her wounds.
Four Israelis were in serious condition, four were in moderate condition, and the rest sustained light injuries.
The shooting, which began at 8:40 P.M. (local time) took place in the western part of the city, close to the its boardwalk and hotels. Israeli Police killed the three gunmen.
The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed group linked to Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, claimed responsibility for the attack. The attackers were identified as Said al-Batah and Shadi al-Nijmeh from Nablus.
Israeli Raids
Israeli helicopters fired two missiles at the al-Am'ari refugee camp in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Saturday night, Palestinian witnesses said.
Reports said a car was hit at the entrance to the camp. The helicopters struck shortly after the suicide attack in Jerusalem.
Meanwhile, Israeli troops continued their extensive attacks in the Gaza Strip and West Bank on Saturday, and Palestinian sources claimed that that Israeli missiles hit Yasser Arafat's compound in the Gaza Strip and that Israeli troops blockaded the Deheishe and Ayda refugee camps, near the West Bank city of Bethlehem.
Israeli aircraft fired nine missiles at five targets around the complex housing Arafat's headquarters in Gaza City, wounding at least 24 people, witnesses and medical sources said.
Palestinian security officials said the missiles hit three checkpoints of the Force 17 guard surrounding Arafat's office, a nearby building that houses several branches of the Palestinian security services, and Arafat's helicopter launchpad.
An 18-month-old baby, six women, and four members of the Palestinian security forces were among the wounded, hospital sources said.
Later, Israeli warplane fired a missile at Arafat's offices in the northern West Bank city of Nablus. Security sources said five people were wounded in the Nablus attack.
Settler Killed
An Israeli settler was killed Saturday evening after an Israeli jeep ran over him during a Palestinian shooting attack near the Kissufim junction in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli military sources said Palestinians opened fire on a car in which two Israeli settlers were travelling, and the passengers went out of the car to return fire. israeli soldiers driving a military patrol jeep mistook the Israelis for Palestinian gunmen and ran over one of them.
(Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
