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22 Israelis Wounded By Bomb Blast In Tel Aviv, Israeli Assassinations Continue
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| A man wounded in the bomb blast |
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, Jan. 25 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – A Palestinian activist blew himself up in a busy pedestrian zone of Tel Aviv, wounding more than 20 Israelis, as Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas, vowed revenge after Israel assassinated yet another one of its members in a helicopter strike late Thursday.
Tel Aviv police chief, Yossi Setbon, speaking from the site of the attack in an improvised press conference broadcast on TV, said the bomber was not riding a scooter, contrary to earlier police reports.
The attacker detonated the explosive belt he was wearing next to a scooter, Setbon explained.
The attack took place in an area closed off to traffic near a disused bus station in an impoverished neighborhood mainly frequented by immigrant laborers, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The area was immediately cordoned off by police, who launched a search in case of other bombs.
According to Israel's military radio, the police was already on high alert in the Tel Aviv area following information on possible attacks.
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| Hamdan’s car destroyed by Israeli missiles |
"We are expecting further attacks in the coming days," said Israel police chief, Shlomo Aharonishky.
No one has claimed responsibility for the latest attack.
However, an Israeli spokesman said that the ultimate responsibility lay with the Palestinian leadership.
"All the signs point to one of the extremist Palestinian groups, but again, the responsibility belongs to the Palestinian Authority which is continuing a policy of terror," said Danny Ayalon, far-right Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon's foreign policy adviser, BBC reported.
There was no immediate Palestinian comment on the attack, but spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeinah, said earlier that the continuation of Israel's assassination policy would lead to violence and bloodshed.
The incident comes at the end of a week of escalating tension, and follows a series of Israeli assassination of a number Palestinian activists, BBC’s online news service reported.
Recently, Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, pledged retaliation for the assassination of one of its leaders, Baker Hamdan, in a helicopter missile attack in the Gaza Strip overnight.
An Israeli helicopter fired a missile at Hamdan’s car, killing him and wounding two passengers, security officials said.
An Israeli army spokesman justified the assassination, saying Hamdan was the chief of Hamas' military wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassem Brigades, in Khan Yunis and linking him to the January 9 killing of four Israeli occupation soldiers on the edge of southern Gaza.
"Hamas will not keep its arms crossed in the face of the assassination of one its members and the resistance will carry on until the liberation [of Palestine]", a Hamas official told AFP.
On Tuesday, Hamas declared "total war" against Israel, following the assassination of four of its members as they slept in their beds, in an Israeli army raid on the West Bank town of Nablus.
The latest killings raised to 1,163 the number of deaths during the Palestinian Intifada against Israeli occupation, which erupted in September 2000 in response to Sharon’s provocative visit to Al Aqsa Mosque.
Palestinians account for 891 of the deaths and Israelis for 250.
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