HIGHLIGHTS: 'A Huge Disaster Has Been Prevented', Israeli Police||Mossad Says Israelis Abroad Are Now Being Targeted||Gaza Campaign Now Probably on Hold||Barghouti Sends Message From Behind Bars||STORY: A bomb attached to a tanker truck exploded Thursday at Israel's biggest fuel depot in the densely populated Tel Aviv metropolitan area, and Israeli police said they believed Palestinian militants were behind the attack. The fire was put out and no one was hurt.

Israeli occupation authorities say they have uncovered plans by militants to cause even greater destruction, such as a plot to explode trucks laden with a ton of explosives under the twin Azrieli Towers in Tel Aviv, Israel's tallest buildings.
There was no claim of responsibility for Thursday's bombing.

The fuel depot targeted Thursday is located in the heart of the greater Tel Aviv area, close to three major highways and surrounded by residential areas. "A huge disaster has been prevented," said Yossi Sedbon, the Tel Aviv police chief.

The police chief declined comment on radio reports that a cellular phone had been used to set off the bomb. He said police were checking the route of the tanker truck, and ordered all tanker trucks to be checked for explosives.

ISRAELI PARIS EMBASSY DESTROYED BY FIRE

An intense fire destroyed the Israeli embassy in Paris early on Thursday, which ambassador Elie Barnavi said was most probably started by an electrical short circuit. (Read photo caption)

Only the walls were left standing after the blaze, which started before 2 a.m. and roared through the old building in central Paris. Six of the 150 firemen fighting it were injured but a night guard on duty inside got out safely.

Barnavi told journalists he could not rule out what he called terrorism, which would make the blaze the worst of a recent series of so-called anti-Semitic attacks in France, but said an accident seemed to be the most likely cause of the overnight fire.

MOSSAD OFFICIAL SAYS DIASPORA IS BEING TARGETED

Meanwhile, "Y," a senior Mossad official, warned yesterday that the most serious security threat to Jewish communities in the Diaspora today comes from Osama bin Laden's "World Jihad" organization.

He told the Jewish Agency's Forum on Zionist Thought that Islamist extremists who have been arrested in Europe have told investigators Bin Laden's organization plans attacks on Jewish communities like the attack on the synagogue in Djerba, Tunisia, where 16 people were killed on April 11.

"Y" said that Bin Laden is determined to implement the religious ruling he quoted in 1998, when he spoke of the need to "fight crusaders, Jews, and supporters of the US."

BENYAMIN BEN-ELIEZER SAYS ONLY PEACE TALKS WOULD STOP BOMBINGS

Israel's defense minister said in an interview before the most recent bombing that the only way to stop such attacks was through peace talks, although the military campaign had succeeded in reducing "terror activity."

"You can minimize it, but (stop it) completely, no," Binyamin Ben-Eliezer told Reuters. "The only way to conclude that is through talks, through negotiations, through understanding between the two peoples that the time has come."

CAMPAIGN AGAINST GAZA PROBABLY ON HOLD

It was, meanwhile not clear whether the military campaign against Gaza was back on the cards, although local radio stations quoted security sources as saying they preferred to retaliate with pinpointed strikes against militants.

BARGHOUTI SENDS MESSAGE FROM BEHIND BARS

In another development, West Bank Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti sent out a message from his cell in Jerusalem Wednesday via his attorney, urging Palestinians to press ahead with the struggle against Israel.

The most senior Palestinian official to be apprehended during Operation Defensive Shield, Barghouti was arrested on in Ramallah on April 15, allegedly in connection with the deaths and injuries of scores of Israeli civilians.

His lawyer, Jawad Boulous, said that as a political leader, his client would plead not guilty to all charges expected to be brought against him.

After visiting Barghouti for the fourth time since his arrest, Boulous read a message from him at a press conference he held to highlight the detention of Barghouti and other suspected Palestinian Resistance men.

Boulous has repeatedly appealed to the Supreme Court asking to gain "unfettered access" to his client.

PHOTO CAPTION

An intense fire destroyed the Israeli embassy in Paris early May 23, 2002. Officials said it was too early to determine the cause. Israeli ambassador Elie Barnavi said it was most probably an accident but more investigation was needed. The building was undergoing renovation work. (Reuters)