Eilat: 3 killed in terror attack

[Scurrilous]

Three people killed, at least two others critically wounded, as suicide bomber blows himself up in Eilat shopping center, as police search for culprits who drove bomber to scene of attack

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3358185,00.html

<snip>

"Three people were killed and two others were critically wounded Monday morning in an suicide bombing attack that rocked a shopping area located in Eilat’s Izidor neighborhood.

Police confirmed that a suicide bomber blew himself up in a bakery in the neighborhood that was bustling with shoppers at the time, but no group claimed responsibility for the attack.

Three people who sustained critical injuries were evacuated to Yoseftal Hospital, but one died of his wounds on the way.

“I opened the window, and the entire house shook from the blast,” a local resident told Ynet. “It was really close by, and I’m shaking with fear; it’s as though we are living in Texas – in the Wild West. There are disturbances in this area every night.”

[Eugene]

1. White House Denounces Attack in Israel (AP)

White House Denounces Attack in Israel

Monday, January 29, 2007

(01-29) 04:27 PST WASHINGTON, (AP) --

The Bush administration on Monday strongly denounced a suicide bomb attack
in southern Israel that killed three people, saying such violence undermines
Palestinian hopes for an independent state.

"Our condolences go out to the victims, their families, and the people of Israel.
We also condemn those Palestinian terrorist groups, including Hamas, that
condone these barbaric actions," the White House said in a statement.

"The burden of responsibility for preventing terrorist attacks rests with the
Palestinian Authority government," it added. "Failure to act against terror will
inevitably effect relations between that government and the international
community and undermine the aspirations of the Palestinian people for a state
of their own. "

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/01/29/national/w042716S36.DTL

[furman]

2. AP: Hamas defends suicide bombing as legitimate "resistance" against Israel

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/01/29/africa/ME-GEN-Palestinians-Hamas-Bombing.php

Hamas defends suicide bombing as legitimate "resistance" against Israel

The Associated Press
Published: January 29, 2007

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip: A spokesman for the Islamic militant group Hamas defended Monday's Palestinian suicide bombing in Israel as legitimate "resistance" against Israel.

Fawzi Barhoum called the attack a "natural response" to Israeli military policies in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as well as its ongoing boycott of the Hamas-led Palestinian government. "So long as there is occupation, resistance is legitimate," he said.

He also said attacks on Israel were preferable to the recent bout of Palestinian infighting in Gaza. "The right thing is for Fatah weapons to be directed toward the occupation not toward Hamas," he said.

Militants linked to Fatah and the Islamic Jihad group claimed responsibility for Monday's attack, which killed four people in the southern resort town of Eilat.

[Kagemusha]

6. Wow, is that just twisted.

Hamas gets the grief for a tepid endorseent of someone else's attacks and Fatah gets credit for condemning the attack by its own military wing.

My eyes are spinning.

[oberliner]

3. Two Palestinian groups claim Israel attack

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070129/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictisraelblastclaim_070129110614

GAZA CITY (AFP) - Radical Palestinian groups Islamic Jihad and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades have jointly claimed a deadly suicide blast in Israel's resort of Eilat which they said was carried out by a Palestinain from Gaza.

[pampango]

4. Suicide bombing. I used to think that this tactic was only

justified by Islamists to kill Jews (in Israel) or Christians (in the US, Britain, Spain, etc.). Now it seems to be religiously permissible to kill fellow Muslims in Iraq, Pakistan, Jordan, etc.)

It is a very effective tactic. Traditional guerrilla groups (occupied countries in WWII) targeted the occupiers, not the civilian population. While they were somewhat effective, they hardly had the success that groups in Iraq are enjoying. I wonder why the French resistance did not think of the idea of blowing up their own countrymen in order to put pressure on Germany to cease the occupation.

So many things have changed in terms of media that a more realistic example might be Yugoslavia. Could Slobodan Milosevic have caused enough public outrage against the NATO bombing campaign if he had launched a campaign to kill large numbers of Serbian civilians in protest against NATO's actions? Instead he just slaughtered Muslims and fought with Croats and others which just reminded everyone why he had to be dealt with.

[geek tragedy]

5. The people killing Iraqi civilians aren't Iraqi patriots, they're

fundamentalist zealots whose sole loyalty is to their wacked-out religious beliefs.

[oberliner]

7. IDF: Bomber entered Israel through Egypt

<snip>

A senior Israel Defense Forces officer told Haaretz that the bomber, 21-year-old Mohammed al-Saqsaq, entered Eilat through the border with Egypt, several dozen kilometers northwest of Eilat. Based on the examination of the body, it appears he entered Israel several days ago, and made his way to Eilat on foot.

Islamic Jihad had said earlier that the bomber had set out from the West Bank, and reached Eilat via Jordan, after seven months of preparation. Jordan has denied that the bomber entered through its territory.

Eilat, some 350 kilometers south of Jerusalem, is bordered by Egypt and Jordan.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/819015.html

[MADem]

8. More coverage here from the ECONOMIST

EILAT, a cheerful seaside resort at Israel’s southern tip, has up to now been virtually unscathed by the violent impacts of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. So the suicide bombing that killed three Israelis and critically wounded two others on Monday January 29th was a terrible shock to the city, especially as such attacks are now a relative rarity.

It was, in fact, only the second suicide bombing in Israel proper since Hamas won control of the Palestinian Authority (PA) in March, though Israeli authorities say they have foiled a great many other attempts. Undoubtedly the growing West Bank separation barrier, the tighter seal around Gaza since Israel pulled out its settlers and troops in 2005, and the Israeli army’s constant arrests and killings of suspected Palestinian militants have all contributed to stemming the flow. As with the last bombing, Hamas did not claim responsibility—that went to three other armed groups, among them loyalists of the ousted Fatah party—but did not condemn it either.

The immediate question is how Israel will respond. After several months of intense shelling and raids that followed the abduction of an Israeli soldier last summer, the two sides agreed a ceasefire in Gaza, which Israel’s army has largely adhered to. Gaza’s militants, on the other hand, have not; nearby Israeli towns have endured a constant drizzle of Qassam rockets. If, as one of the militias now says, Gaza is where the Eilat bomber came from, then Israel’s leaders may calculate that a swift, sharp but limited retaliation is the best response. Coming after two months of restraint it may bring home to Gazans the message that it is their own militants who are the source of their woes.

In reality, though, any action will be mainly for the Israeli public’s consumption. Gazans hardly need reminding of what trouble their own gunmen bring. In the past few days, clashes between Hamas and Fatah fighters have killed 30 people in Gaza, including several innocent bystanders and children. The tit-for-tat feuding is also spilling over into the West Bank, with militants in towns like Nablus and Hebron taking revenge (as they call it) for the attacks on their brethren in Gaza. The violence has dashed hopes that Fatah and Hamas, whose leaders met earlier this month in Damascus, might at last conclude the deal on a unity government that they have been pursuing for months....

http://www.economist.com/world/africa/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8617518

[Violet_Crumble]

9. Defense minister vows to boost security on southern border

The defense establishment will boost operations along the border with Egypt in order to prevent further terror attacks in the area, Defense Minister Amir Peretz said Tuesday.

During a tour in Eilat and a visit to the scene of Monday's suicide bombing, Peretz said, "We will increase the activity along the fence, deal with the traffic routes, boost operations along the routes and reexamine all existing measures, in order to address the current threats and target the terror infrastructure."


The defense minister pledged to act "decisively" against what he described as "a very serious action."


"We must not allow the terror attack to cause panic and frighten away tourists. We'll do everything to protect our citizens and keep tourism as an important element," said Peretz.



In a press conference, after being asked about the absence of a protective fence along the border with Egypt, Peretz said "the budget for such a project is in the billions and we have a list of priorities. The (southern border) will be prioritized as necessary, and the issue will be discussed by the defense establishment."

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3358723,00.html

[Violet_Crumble]

10. Eilat driver warned police about terrorist minutes before attack

The Israeli civilian who unwittingly drove the Eilat suicide bomber close to the scene of Monday's attack told police just minutes before the blast that he suspected the man was a terrorist.

A senior Israel Defense Forces officer told Haaretz that the Islamic Jihad suicide bomber who killed three people Monday morning when he blew himself up in a bakery in the southern resort city of Eilat, entered Israel through the border with Egypt, several dozen kilometers northwest of Eilat.

Once in the Simchon neighborhood of Eilat, the terrorist hitched a ride with Yossi Waltinsky, a lieutenant colonel in the IDF reserves, who happened to be driving by.

Waltinsky thought that the man was suspicious, as he was wearing heavy clothing - probably to protect him from the desert chill during the night - and carried a bag. Nevertheless, Waltinsky dropped him off near a gas station, about a kilometer from the area where he carried out the attack.

According to southern district police chief Uri Bar-Lev, who rushed to Eilat immediately after hearing of the attack, Waltinksy then telephoned the police station in the town and said that he suspected the man was a terrorist. Two patrol cars rushed to the scene, but seven minutes after Waltinsky made the call, the bomber carried out the attack.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/819425.html