Three American security guards were killed this morning when a powerful bomb ripped through an armor-plated car driving in an American convoy in Gaza, and a fourth American is hospitalized. The explosion occurred about three kilometers south of the northern Gaza's Erez Checkpoint, in PA-controlled area. No organization has claimed responsibility, and confusion and embarrassment is the order of the day in the PA. Arafat quickly condemned the attack, and senior PA officials Abu Ala and Saeb Erekat said that an investigation involving American officials would be launched. Erekat said that no effort would be spared in finding and bringing those guilty to justice, but refused to say that the PA would crack dismantle the terrorist organizations in its midst.



The targeted convoy was carrying U.S. Embassy officials to Gaza to interview Arab students who have applied for Fulbright scholarships in the United States. Contrary to rumors of this morning that American envoy John Wolfe was injured or killed in the blast, he actually is currently not in Israel.



U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R., Florida), Chairperson of the House Subcommittee on the Middle East and Central Asia, told Foxnews today that Yasser Arafat is in total charge of the terrorist infrastructure in the Palestinian Authority:

"If he wanted to, he could dismantle the entire terrorist infrastructure today or this very hour. He has already fired one prime minister, and is about to fire another, and is in charge of everything that goes on there. So for him to say that he condemns today's attack is just ridiculous."



Ros-Lehtinen, the first Hispanic woman elected to Congress, and Rep. Eliot Engel (D., NY) are the lead sponsors of the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act. This bill imposes sanctions on Syria if it does not stop supporting terrorism, end its occupation of Lebanon, and halt development of weapons of mass destruction.