Four people were killed when a suicide terrorist blew himself up right outside the Sharon shopping mall at the entrance to Netanya shortly after 11:00 this morning. Over 60 wounded - including six in serious condition, and over 20 suffering from shock - were taken to Laniadio Hospital in Netanya, Hillel Yaffe Hospital in Hadera, and Meir Hospital in Kfar Saba. The dead apparently include two women, a little girl, and a man.
A suspicious security guard did not let the man into the mall, and the terrorist detonated his charge outside the mall. The guard was admitted to the hospital about an hour after the blast, suffering from shock. A father and daughter told Israel Radio that they positively identified the terrorist several minutes before the blast, and saw him walk from one mall entrance to another and back again. \"He watched a bus pass by him with a cold, determined look on his face,\" they said. Police say that had he entered the mall or boarded a bus, the catastrophe would have been much greater.
The father and daughter said that they called the police - stationed only some 50-80 meters away - and told them to send a police officer. \"We called some 5-7 minutes before the blast,\" they said, \"yet no one arrived... The clerk who answered said, \'He\'s wearing a blue jacket?\'\" - a clear indication that they were not the first to inform the police of the same suspicions. A police spokesman said that a police vehicle was on its way to the site and was only \"meters away when the explosion occurred.\" He said that that \"the short interval between our receiving the reports and the explosion made it difficult to take concrete steps - since the terrorist can blow himself up as soon as he hears sirens or sees policemen - but an investigation will be held.\"
Members of various terrorist organizations, including Hamas, Hizbullah-Palestine, and Izzadin el-Kassam, have taken responsibility for the killings. The security cabinet - Prime Minister Sharon, Foreign Minister Peres, Defense Minister Ben-Eliezer, together with leading military officers - will convene at 2 PM today. PLO leaders are expecting a strong Israeli retaliatory attack.
A suspicious security guard did not let the man into the mall, and the terrorist detonated his charge outside the mall. The guard was admitted to the hospital about an hour after the blast, suffering from shock. A father and daughter told Israel Radio that they positively identified the terrorist several minutes before the blast, and saw him walk from one mall entrance to another and back again. \"He watched a bus pass by him with a cold, determined look on his face,\" they said. Police say that had he entered the mall or boarded a bus, the catastrophe would have been much greater.
The father and daughter said that they called the police - stationed only some 50-80 meters away - and told them to send a police officer. \"We called some 5-7 minutes before the blast,\" they said, \"yet no one arrived... The clerk who answered said, \'He\'s wearing a blue jacket?\'\" - a clear indication that they were not the first to inform the police of the same suspicions. A police spokesman said that a police vehicle was on its way to the site and was only \"meters away when the explosion occurred.\" He said that that \"the short interval between our receiving the reports and the explosion made it difficult to take concrete steps - since the terrorist can blow himself up as soon as he hears sirens or sees policemen - but an investigation will be held.\"
Members of various terrorist organizations, including Hamas, Hizbullah-Palestine, and Izzadin el-Kassam, have taken responsibility for the killings. The security cabinet - Prime Minister Sharon, Foreign Minister Peres, Defense Minister Ben-Eliezer, together with leading military officers - will convene at 2 PM today. PLO leaders are expecting a strong Israeli retaliatory attack.