Palestinian suicide (self-sacrifice) bomber kills nine, wounds 60 in Tel Aviv

Source: Daily Star, 18-4-2006
A Palestinian bomber killed nine people and wounded 60 others in Tel Aviv Monday in an attack that the Hamas-led government called an act of "self-defense".
The "Israeli" government of acting Premier Ehud Olmert said it held the new Palestinian Authority responsible for the bombing, which was claimed by Islamic Jihad.
Olmert said the attack could have been timed to coincide with the swearing in of "Israel`s" new Parliament in Jerusalem following March elections.
The bomb went off in the southern Neveh Shaanan district, close to the site of Tel Aviv`s old bus station. Medics put the number killed at nine, not including the bomber.
The area has been the scene of several previous attacks, including one in January.
The blast - the deadliest since a suicide (self-sacrifice) bombing in August 2004 - was claimed by Islamic Jihad.
"We think that this operation ... is a direct result of the policy of the occupation and the brutal aggression and siege committed against our people," said Khaled Abu Hilal, spokesman for the Hamas-led Interior Ministry.
"The "Israeli" occupation bears the responsibility for this situation as a consequence of its crimes against our women and children, as well as the assassinations (and) arrests," spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told AFP.
The lack of condemnation from Hamas drew a blunt warning from Washington.
"Defense or sponsorship of terrorist (militant) acts by officials of the Palestinian Cabinet will have the gravest effects on relations between the PA and all states seeking peace in the Middle East," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana called on "all parties to prevent any further descent into a senseless spiral of violence."
"There could "be no justification" for the attack, said Russia.
A spokesman for Islamic Jihad told AFP the attack was a "response to the "Israeli" massacres and siege imposed on our people."
The group later distributed a video of the 18-year-old bomber, Samir Hamad, reading from the Koran and wearing a black Jihad headband.
"We tell the criminal enemy there are more martyrdom-seekers, God willing," he said.
His mother Samia told AFP from the family home near the West Bank town of Jenin, that she had no idea about her son`s intentions.
"I thought that he had gone to work in Jenin before I was told on the phone that he had carried out this attack in Tel Aviv," she said.
An Olmert spokesman, Raanan Gissin, said the government held the new PA responsible.
The bombing followed a spate of "Israeli" strikes on the Gaza Strip which left 18 Palestinians dead, including two children.