A_Wanderer
ONE love, blood, life
linkTEL AVIV (AFP) - Nine people were killed and dozens wounded in Israel's commercial capital Tel Aviv when a Palestinian bomber blew himself up in the deadliest suicide attack of the last 20 months.
The blast took place hours before the swearing in of the new Israeli parliament and prompted a pledge by prime minister designate Ehud Olmert that its perpetrators would not go unpunished.
The bomb went off next to a fast food stand at lunchtime in the southern Neveh Sha'anan district, close to the site of Tel Aviv's old bus station. The area has been the scene of several previous attacks, including one in January.
The blast -- the deadliest since a suicide bombing in August 2004 -- was claimed by the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad, which has been behind all of the most recent bomb attacks in Israel.
Moderate Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas condemned what he called an act of terrorism but the radical Islamist group Hamas, which recently formed a new government, laid the blame at Israel's door for its "aggression".
The lack of condemnation from Hamas drew criticism not only from Washington, which already boycotts its administration, but also from UN chief
Kofi Annan.
"(Annan) calls on the Palestinian Authority to take a clear public stand against such unjustifiable acts of terrorism, noting that president Abbas has done so and regretting that the new government has not," his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
Perhaps now would be a good time to take the Hamas government to account
Incidently here is a list since the Febuary 2005 hudna
• April 17, 2006: A bomber blows himself up at a Tel Aviv restaurant targeted previously, killing eight other people.
• March 30, 2006: A bomber disguised as a Jewish hitchhiker blows himself up in a car outside a West Bank settlement, killing four Israelis who stopped to pick him up. The Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, a violent offshoot of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah Party, claims responsibility.
• Jan. 19, 2006: A bomber disguised as a peddler blows himself up at a Tel Aviv felafel restaurant, wounding 20 people.
• Dec. 29, 2005: A bomber explodes at an Israeli army checkpoint in the West Bank, killing an Israeli soldier and two Palestinians.
• Dec. 5, 2005: A bomber blows himself up at a shopping mall in the coastal town of Netanya, killing five.
• Oct. 26, 2005: A bomber blows himself up in Hadera at a food stand, killing five.
• Aug. 28, 2005: A bomber blows himself up in the southern city of Beersheba, killing only himself.
• July 12, 2005: A bomber blows himself up outside a shopping mall in Netanya, killing five.
• Feb. 25, 2005: In the first attack after a truce is declared, a bomber blows himself up near a Tel Aviv nightclub, killing four.
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