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Holiday Terror Attack Thwarted
By Tzippe Barrow
CBN News - Jerusalem Bureau
April 11, 2007
CBNNews.com - JERUSALEM, Israel - The day after the Passover holiday ended, the Israeli public learned that a major suicide bombing, slated for central Tel Aviv, had been thwarted.
A truck carrying a 220-pound bomb passed through a checkpoint near the Palestinian Authority- (PA) controlled city of Kalkilya, ostensibly because the driver, married to an Israeli Arab, possessed an Israeli identity card. The truck also had an Israeli license plate.
In an effort to minimize inconvenience to the residents of Kalkilya, situated within easy access of several major Israeli cities, Arabs carrying Israeli identity cards pass freely through the checkpoint.
The driver made it to the center of Tel Aviv, but for reasons yet undisclosed, did not detonate the bomb. He returned to Kalkilya and a few days later, the bomb accidentally went off in a "work" accident. No one was injured.
In the scope of Israeli policy, the incident has broad ramifications, which include the buildup of Hamas terror cells in Judea and Samaria , the need to install more explosive-identification devices at checkpoints, and yet another look at issuing identity cards to Palestinians who marry Israeli Arabs.
Working in tandem, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) troops and Shin Bet (general security services), arrested 19 members of a Hamas terrorist cell in Kalkilya.
Subsequent investigation confirmed the buildup of Hamas operatives in PA-controlled cities in preparation for renewed terrorist attacks against Israelis. The foiled Tel Aviv attack was one of several attacks planned for the near future.
"The picture that emerges in interrogations of the members of the cell clearly signals that the Hamas organization in Kalkilya has shifted from the stage of 'force building' to the operational stage and the carrying out of attacks, including suicide attacks, inside Israel. According to information, they continue to work on planning and execution of significant attacks, including ones in the immediate future," read the Shin Bet statement.
Hamas planned to detonate the 220-pound car bomb, packed with shrapnel, in Tel Aviv on the eve of the Passover holiday, reminiscent of the Netanya Park Hotel bombing at a Passover Seder service on March 29, 2002, which left 30 dead and 140 injured, many of them critically.
Another Drive-by Shooting
Tuesday evening, at an intersection near the city of Karnei Shomron in Samaria, 30-year-old Benny Cohen, one of several Israelis waiting for a ride home, was shot by Palestinians in a car.
"We were waiting there for about five minutes," Cohen's friend, Avi Nas, told Army Radio. "A car drove by and fired one bullet from a hunting rifle. At first I didn't realize they had shot and neither did Benny. He collapsed to the ground and was bleeding profusely," said Nas.
"I tried to determine where he was bleeding from, but couldn't," he said. "An IDF patrol happened to be driving by and radioed for an ambulance. Benny started to pale and lost a lot of blood."
By the time the ambulance arrived, Cohen lost consciousness. He is recovering in a hospital.
Despite the latest violence and threats, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas will resume their bi-monthly meetings next week, arranged by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, during her visit last month.
Sources: YNet, The Jerusalem Post
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