Suicide Bomber Kills 3 in West Bank

The blast occurred in an open-air mall in a Jewish settlement in the West Bank, marking the first time a settlement was targeted in such a bombing since they are usually so heavily guarded.

The restaurant was gutted, with pieces of concrete and wires dangling from the ceiling. Blood, glass and debris covered the sidewalk. A children's coin-operated ride, a purple horse, stood unharmed amid the destruction.

In the northern Gaza Strip, a Palestinian rocket hit an Israeli army base, causing some damage but no injuries. In response, Israeli tanks advanced on the nearby Palestinian town of Beit Lahia, and Palestinian witnesses said they heard intense shooting in the area.

The day's violence began earlier Saturday when four Palestinians were killed, three in a gun battle with Israeli troops and one in a car explosion that Palestinians blamed on Israel. The Islamic militant group Hamas said it would retaliate for the blast, which killed a Hamas leader.

A radical PLO faction, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, claimed responsibility for Saturday's mall explosion in a call to the Qatar-based satellite TV station Al Jazeera. The group identified the bomber as Sadek Abdel Hafeth, 18, from the West Bank town of Qalqilya.

However, the Israeli government held Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat ultimately responsible, saying he had done nothing to prevent attacks on Israelis.

The mall blast went off shortly before 8 p.m. in the Jewish settlement of Karnei Shomron in the West Bank.

"I heard a large explosion ... and I saw everyone running away," said Rachel Cohen, owner of a flower shop near the pizza restaurant. Cohen said her husband, who uses a wheelchair and couldn't flee the scene, was injured in the blast.

Karnei Shomron resident Cy Polski, originally from Staten Island in New York, said the mall was crowded with teen-agers at the time of the blast.

"You could call it the neighborhood hangout. It's sickening. I saw blood spattered on the pavement as far back as the swimming pool, about 150 meters away," said Polski.

Police said three people - an Israeli woman, a youngster and the apparent assailant - were killed in the blast. Twenty-seven people were wounded, including six in serious condition.

It was not clear how the bomber infiltrated Karnei Shomron, a settlement with 1,500 residents in the heart of the West Bank, between the Palestinian towns of Nablus and Qalqilya.

Residents complained that security around the shopping center was lax despite repeated warnings that Islamic militants planned to carry out more attacks on Israelis.

Avi Levy, a member of the regional council, told Israel Channel 1 TV that "there were supposed to be checks so that Palestinians were not let into the mall."

As he spoke, a bystander yelled at him: "Everything was open, just open! They could just come in and out freely."

Settlements are usually heavily guarded, ringed by fences and guards posted at entrance gates.

Gideon Meir, an Israeli Foreign Ministry official, said Israel would retaliate by hunting down Palestinian militants.

"If we have to kill them, we'll kill them," Meir said. "Wherever we can get them, we will get them."

Israel has killed dozens of Palestinian militants accused of involvement in killings of Israelis - and a number of bystanders - in targeted attacks in the past 16 months.

On Saturday, a leader of the Hamas military wing, Nazih Abu Sabaa, was killed in the West Bank town of Jenin. Palestinian security officials said Abu Sabaa had left a school where he teaches and was walking near a parked car when the vehicle exploded. A 2-year-old Palestinian boy was slightly injured.

The car had been wired with explosives that were planted by Israel, the Palestinian officials said. The Israeli army refused to comment on the explosion but military officials said that Abu Sabaa had been involved in three suicide attacks since fighting began 16 months ago and was planning further assaults.

In central Gaza, three Palestinians were killed Saturday in a gun battle with Israeli forces in the Boureij refugee camp.

The Israeli incursion into the camp was in response to a bomb attack on an Israeli tank on Thursday in which three Israeli soldiers were killed.

Also Saturday, Palestinians fired a homemade Qassam-2 rocket from Gaza into Israel. The rocket landed in an open area and caused no injuries.

(China Daily February 17, 2002)