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Death
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OCCUPIED
JERUSALEM, June 5 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Israeli Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon convened his Security Cabinet Wednesday, June 5,
to discuss Israel’s response to the deadly Megiddo attack, as senior
Israeli ministers were expected to renew calls to expel Palestinian
President Yasser Arafat.
Eighteen
Israelis were killed and more than 50 wounded when a car bomb exploded
near a bus during the rush-hour in northern Israel early Wednesday, June
5, Israeli police said.
Three
of the total 50 wounded were in critical condition, they said. The early
morning attack occurred at a crossroads in Meggido, near the port city
of Haifa, in an area not far from the Palestinian town of Jenin in the
West Bank, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
Israeli
Deputy Defense Minister Dalia Rabin-Pelossof later quoted Sharon as
having asked the cabinet to show restraint in the wake of the attack,
Israeli Army Radio reported after the meeting, said Israeli daily
newspaper, Ha’aretz.
But
hardline cabinet minister Effi Eitam urged tough action, including the
deportation of Palestinians suspected of “terror acts”.
The
security cabinet had scheduled a meeting to discuss warnings of an
escalation in violence with Hezbollah guerillas along Israel’s
northern border with Lebanon, but the bombing radically altered the
meeting's agenda, officials said, Ha’aretz reported.
A
number of senior ministers have demanded in the past that Arafat be
expelled from the territories. Sharon has resisted the move, which is
opposed by the Bush administration and senior Israeli military experts.
Another
expected topic of discussion was a recent difference of opinion between
the prime minister and Shin Bet security service chief Avi Dichter, who
advocates a prolonged Israeli military incursion into areas under formal
Palestinian control.
Meanwhile,
in another reaction to the bombing that was claimed by the Quds Brigade
- the military wing of the Islamic Jihad - CIA chief George Tenet told
Arafat that he would face Sharon’s wrath on his own if any more
bombings were carried out, a senior Palestinian official said Wednesday,
reported AFP.
Tenet
is currently in the region, holding talks with Palestinian leaders on
reforming the Palestinian security services, while U.S. Assistant
Secretary of State for Near East Affairs William Burns has been in
Damascus and Beirut seeking support for a “three-track” U.S.
strategy for peace.
Shortly
after the blast, a senior Israeli official accused Arafat of encouraging
so-called “terrorist organizations” to pursue attacks against
Israel.
“This
atrocity proves once again that the Palestinian Authority and Yasser
Arafat are doing everything to encourage terrorist organizations to
continue their attacks,” Israeli government spokesman Avi Pazner told
AFP.
“We
will take all necessary measures to protect Israeli residents,” he
added, but declined to say whether Israel would launch another
large-scale offensive against the Palestinians.
Regional
police chief Yaakov Boroski said that the explosion was caused by a car
bomb near the bus that plied the route between Tel Aviv and Tiberias and
which was full at the time of the attack.
