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Israel Vows Strong Retaliation to Tel Aviv Blast
Palestine, June 2 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Israel's security cabinet met Saturday to weigh its response to a bombing outside a Tel Aviv nightclub overnight that left 18 dead and scores injured, amid growing popular pressure in Israel to strike back at the Palestinians.
After the rare meeting which took place on the Jewish Sabbath, a most sacred weekly holiday for Jews, Israeli cabinet secretary Gideon Saar said Israel will take "all necessary measures" to respond to the bombing which he called " a terrorist operation."
Palestinians called the operation a martyr bombing while Western news agencies called it a "suicide" bombing.
"Israel holds the Palestinian Authority responsible for the deterioration of the situation and will take the adequate measures", he said without elaborating. Israel has routinely shelled Palestinian Authority buildings and assassinated Palestinian political and security leaders in response. Middle East experts said the reaction this time will most likely be the same.
Ultra-orthodox Jewish and nationalist groups demonstrated outside the Israeli defense ministry in Tel Aviv and called upon the cabinet, which is authorized to take decisions on security matters, to end the so-called Israeli cease-fire that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declared ten days ago.
Crowds of angry Israelis gathered at the gates of a mosque across the street from the disco. Demonstrators chanted "Death to the Arabs" and demanded that Sharon order harsh retaliation. Several people threw stones at Muslim worshippers emerging from the mosque.
The Palestinians ridiculed the declaration and said it was only a public relations decoy to diffuse world condemnation of Israeli excessive use of force against Palestinian civilians protesting Israeli occupation and Israeli encroachments against Muslim holy sites, some of which have been under Israeli occupation since 1948.
Since fighting erupted last September, more than 560 Palestinians have been killed and 91 Israeli Jews and 13 Arabs living under Israeli control have died.
After the bombing Israeli army imposed a blockade on all-Palestinian towns and villages in the neighboring West Bank and advised all Palestinians to leave Israel immediately, news agencies said. "All Palestinians are barred from entering and leaving the autonomous zones, and the border crossings are closed," an Israeli military spokesperson said.
Israeli authorities have ordered a full and complete closure of the West Bank, the Israeli occupation force added that Palestinians would not be allowed to leave or enter the occupied territory.
Palestinian President Yasser Arafat has reportedly ordered a ceasefire and promised to do "whatever necessary" to achieve a break in fighting, AFP reported.
"We are ready to make the utmost effort to stop the bloodbath among our people and the Israeli people, and to do whatever is necessary for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire," Arafat told reporters, adding that he had asked for international support.
Shortly afterwards, senior Palestinian peace negotiator Saeb Erakat, called for US Middle East envoy William Burns to return to the region immediately to help the sides work to implement a ceasefire.
Palestinian Resistance movements Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (FPLP), who denied involvement in Tel Aviv blast spoke out Saturday in favor of the bombing.
Hamas spokesman Abdelaziz Rantissi justified the attack, saying the Palestinians have the right to "resist Israeli occupation."
Rantissi anticipated that Israel would retaliate by striking Palestinian Authority positions, assassinating some of its leading figures and targeting civilian areas.
Hossam Khodr, a leader in the Fatah resistance movement and member of the Palestinian legislative committee reiterated that Israeli retaliatory measures will not stop the Palestinian uprising but it will increase the Palestinian struggle against occupation.
Moreover, the spiritual leader of Hamas, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, said Palestinians had the "right to defend themselves from the Israeli aggression."
The Palestinian Authority rejected Israeli accusations they were responsible for Friday's blast.
"The government of Israel commits a big mistake when it accuses the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) of the blast," Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo said in a statement quoted by AFP.
The explosion, which has raised international condemnation, occurred late Friday when a suspected Palestinian bomber blew himself up among a group of Jews waiting in line to enter the Pasha discotheque, a popular nightspot in Tel Aviv.
The Tel Aviv martyr bombing, which left 18 dead and more than 100 injured, is considered by Israelis the deadliest incident so far in the eight-month Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation.
With additional reporting by Maha Abdel Hadi and Mohammed El Beshawi
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