At least one person was killed - possibly a terrorist - and nine were hurt when a bomb was exploded inside a taxi van at the Mei Ami junction in Wadi Ara, between Hadera and Um el-Fahm. From amidst a wave of imprecise reports on the terrorist bombing along the Hadera-Afula highway today, the following picture emerges:
The taxi was recognized as suspicious when it left central Israel in the direction of Afula. Police checkpoints were erected along the Wadi Ara highway. At the Mei Ami junction, a long line of cars waited while police checked the papers of the drivers and passengers. The third car in line was a taxi van, and as the policeman asked for its passengers\' papers, the tremendous explosion occurred. The terrorist holding the bomb is in serious condition, with both of his legs blown off by the blast. The ten occupants of the van included three Palestinians, one Jordanian citizen, and one Israeli-Arab from Um el-Fahm; it is not yet clear how many of them were terrorists.
Two people are reported seriously wounded, two moderately, and five lightly wounded from the attack. The Wadi Ara highway, connecting Hadera and the Tel Aviv area with Tiberias and the north-east, was closed but is now open for traffic.
Both Prime Minister Barak and Police Chief Shlomo Aharonishki said that the attack is connected with the bomb that was found yesterday in downtown Tel Aviv; that bomb was detonated by police without casualties. Police continue to follow up on intelligence warnings of additional terrorist attacks in Tel Aviv; as of now, they say they know of no other terrorist cells in the area.
Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, candidate for Defense Minister in the unity government on behalf of the Labor party, said today, \"The rules of the game must be made clear to the Palestinians. It is inconceivable that we will not respond when they strike at us. Israel must have a clear and consistent policy of striking at the terrorists and those who send them.\"
A Palestinian terrorist group, apparently connected with the Fatah Tanzim, assumed responsibility for the attack. The group also said that it dispatched the car bomb that exploded in Jerusalem\'s Beit Yisrael neighborhood several weeks ago; one woman was lightly injured.
The taxi was recognized as suspicious when it left central Israel in the direction of Afula. Police checkpoints were erected along the Wadi Ara highway. At the Mei Ami junction, a long line of cars waited while police checked the papers of the drivers and passengers. The third car in line was a taxi van, and as the policeman asked for its passengers\' papers, the tremendous explosion occurred. The terrorist holding the bomb is in serious condition, with both of his legs blown off by the blast. The ten occupants of the van included three Palestinians, one Jordanian citizen, and one Israeli-Arab from Um el-Fahm; it is not yet clear how many of them were terrorists.
Two people are reported seriously wounded, two moderately, and five lightly wounded from the attack. The Wadi Ara highway, connecting Hadera and the Tel Aviv area with Tiberias and the north-east, was closed but is now open for traffic.
Both Prime Minister Barak and Police Chief Shlomo Aharonishki said that the attack is connected with the bomb that was found yesterday in downtown Tel Aviv; that bomb was detonated by police without casualties. Police continue to follow up on intelligence warnings of additional terrorist attacks in Tel Aviv; as of now, they say they know of no other terrorist cells in the area.
Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, candidate for Defense Minister in the unity government on behalf of the Labor party, said today, \"The rules of the game must be made clear to the Palestinians. It is inconceivable that we will not respond when they strike at us. Israel must have a clear and consistent policy of striking at the terrorists and those who send them.\"
A Palestinian terrorist group, apparently connected with the Fatah Tanzim, assumed responsibility for the attack. The group also said that it dispatched the car bomb that exploded in Jerusalem\'s Beit Yisrael neighborhood several weeks ago; one woman was lightly injured.