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August 2, 2002/Av 24 5762, Vol. 54, No. 46
Terror could halt plans to help Palestinians
NAOMI SEGAL
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
JERUSALEM - Just as Israel was preparing to ease sanctions on Palestinian civilians, Palestinian terrorists have unleashed a new wave of attacks.
Israeli officials vowed a "harsh" response for the July 31 bombing in a crowded cafeteria at Hebrew University's Mount Scopus campus, which killed at least seven people and wounded more than 80.
Several of the injured were in critical condition, and medical officials warned that the death toll could rise.
Israeli commentators point-ed out that with Israel's army already carrying out a massive anti-terror campaign in the West Bank - and with the imminent launch of a large-scale operation in the Gaza Strip unlikely - Israeli officials probably would respond to the attack by backing off from plans to ease sanctions on Palestinian civilians.
Hamas claimed responsibility for the bombing, saying it was avenging the killing last week of Salah Shehada, the leader of Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip.
The bombing in the cafeteria in the Frank Sinatra student union building came as students were taking exams.
Though classes were not in session, the cafeteria was filled with students and staff. A group of foreign students planning to study at the university had arrived July 30.
President Bush condemned the attack.
"There are clearly killers who hate the thought of peace and, therefore, are willing to take their hatred to all kinds of places, including a university," Bush said July 31. The United States "condemns that kind of killing, and we send our deepest sympathy to the students and their families."
The July 31 attack came a day after a suicide bomber struck in Jerusalem, wounding seven people. That attack came on the heels of two terrorist incidents in the West Bank in which two Israelis were killed and two wounded.
"I think it's tragic and most regrettable that at a time when we are trying to ease restrictions" the response of "the Palestinian Authority is more terrorist activity," Ra'anan Gissin, a spokesman for Sharon, told The Associated Press.
Sharon ordered a series of steps this week to ease restrictions on the Palestinians, even as Israel braced for retaliatory attacks following the July 23 killing of Salah Shehada, the leader of Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip.
Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer also said he hoped to hold security talks with senior Palestinian officials.
According to Army Radio, Ben-Eliezer has drawn up a proposal aimed at gradually granting the Palestinians security control in areas that remain terror-free.
As part of the promised measures, Israel on July 29 lifted curfews on several Palestinian cities in the West Bank and transferred some $15 million in frozen tax revenue to the Palestinian Authority. On July 31, Palestinian Authority Finance Minister Salam Fayed confirmed that the money had been deposited in the P.A.'s account at the Bank of Israel.
According to an Israeli government statement, Sharon also approved partially lifting roadblocks, expanding fishing zones in the Gaza Strip, improving passage of Palestinian public transportation and granting 12,000 Palestinians work permits in Israel.
But even as these steps were being planned, the pace of violence was intensifying.
The July 30 attack in Jerusalem took place around 1 p.m., when the bomber entered the Yemenite Felafel Stand on a busy downtown street and blew himself up, apparently prematurely, Jerusalem Police Chief Mickey Levy said.
The bomber was identified as a 17-year-old from Bethlehem. The Al-Aksa Brigade, the military wing of P.A. President Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction, claimed responsibility for the bombing.
The group also claimed responsibility for an attack earlier July 30 in which two Israeli brothers were killed when they entered a Palestinian village near Nablus to sell diesel fuel.
In another attack, an Israeli husband and wife were wounded when a Palestinian infiltrated their home in the West Bank settlement of Itamar at around 3 a.m. July 29 and stabbed them in their bedroom.
This week's violence came as Israeli security forces have been on heightened security alert for terrorist attacks.
The head of the Shin Bet security service told a parliamentary committee July 30 that there were warnings of 60 attacks, and that 12 had been thwarted in recent days.
Observers noted that while Israel's heavy presence in Palestinian areas may have succeeded in thwarting recent attacks, the motivation to carry out such attacks remains high.
Israel's Channel One Television reported the night of July 30 that a female suicide bomber and her handler had been arrested by undercover Israeli army units in the West Bank city of Ramallah. They allegedly planned to carry out an attack in a large Israeli city.
Earlier July 30, a security alert in central Israel was lowered after Israeli troops nabbed a Palestinian suspected of planning to carry out a suicide bombing.
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