Wednesday, June 19, 2002

Palestinian Bomber Kills 7, Israel Hits Gaza After the attack in the French Hill area Israeli helicopters hit targets, including foundries, in the Gaza Strip, witnesses said. One man was moderately injured, hospital sources said.

The suicide bombing, the second attack of its kind in the city in two days, had raised the prospect of the Israeli army responding in line with a new policy of retaking and holding Palestinian land as long as such attacks continue.

The government announced the policy after a Hamas militant blew himself up on a Jerusalem bus on Tuesday and killed 19 people, the highest death toll in a Palestinian attack in the city in six years.

Israeli forces later rolled into Palestinian-ruled Jenin and and Qalqilya in the West Bank, and briefly raided Nablus.

The al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed group linked to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction, claimed Wednesday's attack in which the suicide bomber detonated explosives at a bus stop in the evening rush hour.

Jerusalem police chief Mickey Levy told Army Radio: ``The bomber ran to the bus stop. Police officers chased him. When he reached the bus stop he detonated a powerful bomb.''

The suicide bombing, the second attack of its kind in the city in two days, had raised the prospect of the Israeli army responding in line with a new policy of retaking and holding Palestinian land as long as such attacks continue.

The government announced the policy after a Hamas militant blew himself up on a Jerusalem bus on Tuesday and killed 19 people, the highest death toll in a Palestinian attack in the city in six years.

Israeli forces later rolled into Palestinian-ruled Jenin and and Qalqilya in the West Bank, and briefly raided Nablus.

The al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed group linked to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction, claimed Wednesday's attack in which the suicide bomber detonated explosives at a bus stop in the evening rush hour.

Jerusalem police chief Mickey Levy told Army Radio: ``The bomber ran to the bus stop. Police officers chased him. When he reached the bus stop he detonated a powerful bomb.''

The suicide bombing, the second attack of its kind in the city in two days, had raised the prospect of the Israeli army responding in line with a new policy of retaking and holding Palestinian land as long as such attacks continue.

The government announced the policy after a Hamas militant blew himself up on a Jerusalem bus on Tuesday and killed 19 people, the highest death toll in a Palestinian attack in the city in six years.

Israeli forces later rolled into Palestinian-ruled Jenin and and Qalqilya in the West Bank, and briefly raided Nablus.

The al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed group linked to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction, claimed Wednesday's attack in which the suicide bomber detonated explosives at a bus stop in the evening rush hour.

Jerusalem police chief Mickey Levy told Army Radio: ``The bomber ran to the bus stop. Police officers chased him. When he reached the bus stop he detonated a powerful bomb.''

At least 1,403 Palestinians and 530 Israelis have now been killed since a Palestinian revolt began in September 2000 after negotiations for a final peace treaty became deadlocked.

Palestinian Labour Minister Ghassan al-Khatib declined to condemn the attack but added: ``The attack is another example that violence begets violence.'' He said that Bush's decision to delay the speech could only ``widen the cycle of violence.''

``The right and only response to Israeli and Palestinian violence is to launch a peace process that ends occupation and provides peace and security,'' Khatib said.

The Israeli army did not have an immediate comment on the Gaza raids, which witnesses said included at least eight missiles at targets in Gaza City, Khan Younis and Jabaliya.

The Israeli government did not immediately say how it would respond to Wednesday's attack but had outlined a new policy in a statement early on Wednesday after a late-night meeting.

``Against terrorist acts, Israel will respond by capturing territories of the Palestinian Authority. These territories will be held by Israel as long as terror continues,'' it said.

``Additional terrorist attacks will bring about additional captures of territory. As a result of today's bombing in Jerusalem, Israel will soon capture Palestinian Authority territory as described in the policy above.''
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-mideast.htmlaza

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