VARIOUS: MILITANT PALESTINIAN GROUP ISLAMIC JIHAD CLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY FOR SUICIDE BOMBING OF ISRAELI BUS WHICH CLAIMED 16 LIVES

Record ID: 640599

  • Title: VARIOUS: MILITANT PALESTINIAN GROUP ISLAMIC JIHAD CLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY FOR SUICIDE BOMBING OF ISRAELI BUS WHICH CLAIMED 16 LIVES
  • Date: 5th June 2002
  • Summary: (U3) AFULA, NORTHERN ISRAEL (JUNE 5, 2002) (REUTERS) MV WOUNDED SOLDIER RECEIVING MEDICAL AID IN HOSPITAL; SCU FACE OF WOUNDED SOLDIER; SCU WOUNDED MAN RECEIVING MEDICAL AID IN HOSPITAL (3 SHOTS) MV CORRIDOR OF EMERGENCY ROOM (SOUNDBITE) (Hebrew) WOUNDED MAN ON HOSPITAL BED SAYING "I felt an explosion, the interior of the bus moved, as if it was moving in the air, and after that I was already out of the bus, I found myself sitting on the ground. I tried to walk, to see that everything was fine. That's it. All the bus was on fire." (U3) GAZA (JUNE 5, 2002) (REUTERS) MV ISLAMIC JIHAD LEADER IN GAZA ABDALLAH SHAMI TALKING TO REPORTERS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SHAMI SAYING "From my follow-up of the news and the remarks by the general secretary Ramadan Shallah, he claimed the attack." CLOSEUP ON SHAMI'S HANDS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) ISLAMIC JIHAD LEADER IN GAZA ABDALLAH SHAMI SAYING "First of all Tenet's efforts and those of European diplomats, aim to stop the resistance of our people without condemning the crimes of the Israelis against our people. We have the right to respond to these policies and resist the occupation. We are exercising our right of resistance." (W3) JERUSALEM (JUNE 5, 2002) (REUTERS) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) ARI MEKEL, ISRAELI GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN, SAYING "This is another deadly attack by the Palestinians against the citizens of Israel. It is obvious the Palestinians are determined to continue to try and kill as many Israelis and Jews as they can in order to disrupt any chance for peace process, for any chance to make progress and make better future in this area. We believe that Yasser Arafat is behind all this. While he is spreading all kinds of rumours about futile reforms etc he is basically doing nothing about the main issue which is to put an end to terrorism, dismantle terrorist organisations and stop terrorist attacks against the state of Israel." (U3) GAZA (JUNE 5, 2002) (REUTERS) MV HAMAS SPOKESMAN MAHMOUD ZAHAR SITTING AT HIS OFFICE (SOUNDBITE) (English) A HAMAS SPOKESMAN MAHMOUD ZAHAR SAYING "All the Palestinian people are in a big trouble, not only nowadays, not only Mister Arafat but everybody since the establishment of what is called Israel, we are suffering actually from the Israeli aggression, from the unbalanced policy of the West especially America, we are in big trouble, and we are trying to achieve our goal by peaceful methods and we failed, I think that now we have no option but to resist. The question should be answered by the Israelis, either they are going to make the occupation an eternal issue or they are going to withdraw. If they are deciding to make it eternal I think they have to expect an eternal resistance."
  • Embargoed: 20th June 2002 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: MEGIDDO JUNCTION AND AFULA, ISRAEL/GAZA/ JERUSALEM
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVAAFAW1FPEY2NR1MNZYINAR5H9I
  • Story Text: The militant Palestinian group Islamic Jihad has said it carried out the bombing of a bus near Megiddo, the Hebrew name for Armageddon, on the 35th anniversary of the 1967 Middle East war in which Israel seized the West Bank and Gaza Strip. At least 16 people lost their lives in the attack.
    Leader of the Islamic Jihad in Gaza, Abdallah Shami has said the militant group, which opposes interim peace accords with Israel, was responsible for Wednesday's (June 5, 2002) attack in northern Israel, where a Palestinian suicide bomber blew up a car packed with explosives next to a bus, killing at least 16 people.
    The car blew up during the morning rush hour at the Megiddo road junction. The bus had been carrying civilians and soldiers from Tel Aviv to Tiberias by the Sea of Galilee.
    Dozens of Israelis were wounded and evacuated to nearby hospitals. A man wounded in the car bomb explosion gave a description of what he remembered from the explosion: "I felt an explosion, the entire bus moved, as if it moved in the air, and after that I was already out of the bus, I found myself sitting on the ground. I tried to walk, to see that everything was fine. That's it. All the bus was on fire."
    The bombing followed a resurgence of Palestinian suicide bombings following an Israeli military offensive in the West Bank that Israel said was intended to halt such attacks, which are part of a Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation.
    "This is another deadly attack by the Palestinians against the citizens of Israel. It is obvious the Palestinians are determined to continue to try and kill as many Israelis and Jews as they can in order to disrupt any chance for peace process, for any chance to make progress and make better future in this area. We believe that Yasser Arafat is behind all. This is a very serious terrorist attack. There are many casualties, including fatalities," Ari Mekel, Israeli government spokesman said.
    The Palestinian Authority condemned the bombing and rejected Israel's charge that Palestinian President Yasser Arafat was responsible for the attack.
    Spokesman for the militant group Hamas, Mahmoud Zahar said: "All the Palestinian people are in a big trouble, not only nowadays, not only Mister Arafat but everybody since the establishment of what is called Israel, we are suffering actually from the Israeli aggression, from the unbalanced policy of the West especially America, we are in big trouble, and we are trying to achieve our goal by peaceful methods and we failed, I think that now we have no option but to resist.
    The question should be answered by the Israelis, either they are going to make the occupation an eternal issue or they are going to withdraw. If they are deciding to make it eternal I think they have to expect an eternal resistance."
    The attack followed two days of talks between U.S. CIA Director George Tenet and Palestinian and Israeli leaders.
    Tenet, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, has been leading the latest diplomatic drive to halt the violence, in which at least 1,379 Palestinians and 486 Israelis had been killed before Wednesday's attack.
    He discussed reforms of the Palestinian security forces with Arafat in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Tuesday.
    Arafat proposed amalgamating nine key Palestinian Authority security services into three agencies.
    Israel has made any resumption of peace negotiations with the Palestinians conditional on an end to suicide attacks and on wide-ranging reforms within Arafat's Palestinian Authority.
    For Israel, the goal of the reforms to the security services would be to increase the Authority's control over Palestinian armed groups and make it more accountable for their actions.
    Israel's security cabinet later met for three hours in a session scheduled before the blast. No decisions were announced and political sources said the forum was likely to reconvene later in the day to consider military retaliation plans.
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