September 10, 2001

Five killed as terror hits nationwide. First Israeli Arab suicide bomber strikes at Nahariya train station

MARGOT DUDKEVITCH, Arieh O'Sullivan
contributed to this report

Five Israelis were murdered and more than 100 wounded - most suffering from shock - in three terror attacks that rocked the nation yesterday. Suicide bombers struck Nahariya and the Beit Lid junction near Netanya, following a fatal drive-by shooting in the Jordan Valley.

For the first time, an Israeli Arab perpetrated one of the suicide bombings, in Nahariya, after being recruited by Hamas in the West Bank.

Israel accused Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat of instigating the attacks at a time when when preparations are under way to organize a meeting between him and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres.

In retaliation, IAF Apache helicopters targeted several Palestin-ian security installations and Fatah Tanzim headquarters in the West Bank. Palestinians evacuated all security installations and other institutions affiliated with Fatah and the PA in the West Bank and Gaza, fearing a harsh reprisal.

Ya'acov Hatsav, 41, and Sima Franco, 24, were murdered early yesterday morning 300 meters south of the Adam junction. A car overtook a minibus transporting teachers to the Geffanim junior high school in the Jordan Valley, and its occupants were sprayed with gunfire, The Palestinians fled toward Nablus.

Hatsav, who was driving, and Franco, a kindergarten teacher who was sitting next to him, were killed instantly. Three other teachers - Yael Klein and Shlomit Amiton, of Shedmot Mehola, and Yochi David, of Beit She'an - all suffered light-to-moderate wounds.

Klein, whose condition was described as moderate, was airlifted to Hadassah-University Hospital in Jerusalem's Ein Kerem, suffering from gunshots in the back and shoulder. David and Amiton, wounded lightly by fragments, were taken to Ha'emek Hospital in Afula.

Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack.

Two-and-a-half hours later, three Jerusalemites - Sgt. Daniel Yifrah, 19, Yigal Goldstein, 47, and Morel Derfel - were killed and 94 wounded in a suicide bombing at the entrance to the Nahariya train station. Mahmoud Shaker Habishi, of the Western Galilee village of Abu Sna'an, blew himself up after waiting for passengers to disembark from a train from Tel Aviv.

Among the wounded were a one-week-old baby and several residents of Habishi's village. The wounded were taken to Nahariya Government Hospital. Last night, 17 of them remained in the hospital, none with life-threatening wounds.

The Islamic Movement condemned the attack in Nahariya and claimed that Habishi was not a member.

Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack. Pini Malka, the owner of the cafeteria at the station, said his life had been saved even though he was only five meters from Habishi when he detonated his bomb.

'I went to get change from my daughter, who works nearby, and as I returned I saw a man holding a large cardboard box and a bag. It looked like the box was about to fall, and several people went to help him. Then he detonated the bomb.'

Malka said he was thrown into the air and landed 20 meters away. 'I got up and raced back to see how my daughter was. My restaurant was totally destroyed. I took my daughter and raced away from the area in case there was an additional explosion,' he told reporters in the hospital, where he was treated for light wounds.

At 1:15, a suicide bomber exploded two bombs in his car as he waited for a traffic light to change at the Beit Lid junction. His car snapped in two from the force of the blast, in which 13 Israelis were wounded, the majority motorists stopped near the bomber's car. The explosion set fire to an empty bus and a number of vehicles.

For hours afterward, one of the busiest highways in the country was closed until the flames were put out and police sappers were able to dismantle mortar shells and other explosives in the car that failed to detonate.

Police believe the suicide bomber had planned the attack further along the highway near an IDF hitchhiking station or in Netanya, but detonated his bombs prematurely after spotting a Prisons Service van behind his car.

Deputy Sharon District police chief Cmdr. David Franco said police believe the bomber came from Tulkarm. The license plates on his car came from a vehicle stolen in Petah Tikva.

Magen David medic Amit Dilon told The Jerusalem Post that he arrived minutes after the explosion and saw heavy smoke billowing from vehicles at the intersection. The terrorist, he said, was lying near his car, and he and others assisted motorists to leave the area. The wounded were taken to Laniado Hospital in Netanya and Hillel Yaffe Hospital in Hadera.

Yesterday afternoon, helicopters hit the Fatah office in Ramallah and a Palestinian Police position near Kabatiya, south of Jenin, the army said. Earlier, helicopters struck at a Fatah headquarters and a Force 17 post in El-Bireh, reportedly causing heavy damage.

Other gunships were dispatched to Jericho, where they fired rockets into a storeroom belonging to Palestinian Authority General Intelligence, setting it alight.

Tanks also fired at a Palestinian roadblock near the village of Mesanen al-Shabiyeh, east of Nablus.

Five Palestinians were reportedly lightly wounded by shrapnel in the Jericho attack, but there were no reported casualties in the other attacks, because most of the buildings were abandoned in fear of a reprisal.

'The targets hit were continually used to plan and carry out violent terror attacks,' an IDF statement said.

The defense establishment held the PA responsible for the terror, since it is allowed to operate in its territory and the PA has done nothing to stop it.

The IDF said that the PA had also ignored repeated requests to arrest terrorists on their way to carry out attacks.

Bloody Sunday

8:15 a.m.
Adam Junction, Jordan Valley. Two Israelis killed and three wounded in drive-by shooting. Palestinians spray minibus with bullets, flee to Nablus. KILLED: Driver Ya'acov (Kobi) Hatsav, 41, Moshav Hamra, kindergarten teacher Sima Franco, 24, Beit She'an. WOUNDED: three Israeliteachers.

10:40 a.m.
Nahariya train station. Israeli Arab Mahmoud Shaker Habishi detonates explosives strapped to hisbody near entrance. KILLED: Sgt. Daniel Yifrah, Jerusalem, Morel Derfel, Mevaseret Zion, Yigal Goldstein, Jerusalem. WOUNDED: 94, among them soldiers, children, residents ofbomber's village.

1:15 p.m.
Beit Lid junction, Route 4 near Netanya. Suicide car bomber detonates explosives as he waits fortraffic light. Second explosion moments later. WOUNDED: Thirteen Israelis. Vehicles and bus set afire. Area closedto traffic until sappers approach remains of car bomb, dismantle two mortars and other explosives.

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