At Least Four Israelis Killed in Tel Aviv Explosion

01/11/2004| IslamWeb

An explosion has ripped through a crowded outdoor market in central Tel Aviv, killing at least four people. Paramedics on Saturday treated dazed shoppers on the ground, as police searched waste bins for additional explosives. The military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) claimed responsibility for the blast that also wounded at least 32 people. A spokesman for Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, said one of its members from Nablus, was the bomber. "Amir al-Fahr, 18, one of our men from the Askar refugee camp in Nablus, was responsible for this attack," a PFLP member told AFP. Later, Aljazeera reported that a 12-year-old Palestinian boy in the same camp was shot dead by Israeli troops. Bashar Zabara died from gunshot wounds to the neck after troops opened fire at stonethrowers. **Witnesses*** Witnesses said the ground shook when the blast went off near a dairy shop. A witness, who was identified only by his first name, Motti, said he heard an explosion in the market. "I thought maybe fireworks, or a gas canister. But then I saw a store, completely destroyed. Goods fell to the ground. People ran away. I lost my glasses and my hat," Motti told Israel Army Radio. Eli Malka, 38, who has a pickles stand several hundred metres away on the same alley said: "There were men and women shouting, in a state of hysteria. I was afraid there would be another bomber so I walked away immediately." **Hamas reaction*** The largest of the Palestinian resistance groups Hamas blamed the attack on ongoing Israeli "crimes". "This operation comes as a continuation of the resistance to occupation and as a reply to the continuing Zionist crimes against our Palestinian people, said spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri. Those crimes include assassinating leaders of the Palestinian resistance and "continued Israel incursions like the ones we have seen in northern Gaza, Khan Younis, Rafah, Nablus and Jenin," said Zuhri. "After the Israeli aggression in northern Gaza and Khan Younis, Jenin is now facing repeated incursions. Therefore, the problem lies with the occupation and the resistance represents a case of self defence," he added. In a separate development, Israeli occupation forces arrested Fadi al-Saadi, the field leader of al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of al-Jihad resistance movement, after encircling his house in Janin, Aljazeera's correspondent in Palestine reported. Three Palestinian children were injured by Israeli bullets during the confrontations in Janin refugee camp which has been under curfew for five days. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Palestinian police officers carry the body of Palestinian boy Bashar Zabara, 12, in the West Bank city of Nablus Nov. 1 2004. (AP)