Pipe bombs injure dozens prior to final-status talks

JERUSALEM -- Terror struck inside Israel one day before Israeli and Palestinian officials were to begin final-status negotiations.

No group claimed responsibility for the three pipe bombs that exploded Sunday in the northern coastal town of Netanya, lightly to moderately wounding 34 people. A fourth pipe bomb did not detonate.

Shortly after the attack, scores of protesters gathered at the site shouting "Barak go home" and holding signs saying, "This peace is killing us."

Police are investigating whether the attack was an attempt by the Islamic Jihad to mark the anniversary of the death of the movement's leader Fathi Shkaki on Oct. 26.

An Islamic fundamentalist group in London declared that the Hamas was responsible for Sunday's terror attack. Omar Bakri Mohammed Bashiha, leader of the London-based Al Mujiahiron group, declared that Hamas' Izzadin Kassam military wing was responsible for the attack.

The Palestinian Authority offered mixed messages. Several officials condemned the bombing and blamed it on militants who want to destroy the peace process.

Meanwhile in Paris on Monday, Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat declared the attack was the result of an internal organized-crime struggle in Israel.

"It has emerged that this involved certain Israelis, or people from other nationalities, and that it was a conflict between Israeli mafias," he told reporters after meeting French President Jacques Chirac.

When the terror attack occurred, the Israeli cabinet was meeting to approve the next withdrawal from the West Bank.

According to witnesses and police, the explosions took place at about 10:30 a.m in the heart of Netanya's business district. Witnesses and police said the bombs had been planted near a garbage bin at a corner near a bank.

"I was at the corner, waiting at a red light, when I heard an explosion behind us, three explosions," said an Israel Radio reporter who was at the scene.

"There was heavy smoke and fire. I looked behind and saw fire in a pile of garbage and saw six or seven people lying on the sidewalk. Police arrived in a few minutes."

Speaking from his hospital bed, a 67-year-old victim told reporters he was walking across the street when he heard a loud explosion, and a pipe hit him in the leg. "I wanted to run away, but I couldn't as it broke my left leg," he said.

David Ratzon said he was thrown into the street by the blast, several nails penetrated his body, and his shirt caught fire.

"I got up and managed to reach the pavement on the other side, and people rolled me on my stomach and put the flames out. Others helped me to take out some of the nails, including one imbedded in my back," he said.

Israeli police put up roadblocks around Netanya as part of a search for suspects. A local police official confirmed that suspects had been detained for questioning based on descriptions given by witnesses.

An Israel Radio reporter said police were investigating whether the same terrorist cell that planted two pipe bombs outside the Netanya police station three months ago -- an incident that caused no damage or injuries -- was involved in Sunday's bombing.

Prime Minister Ehud Barak soon issued a statement saying the government was determined to eliminate terrorism and that it expected the Palestinian Authority to do likewise.

Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh said Sunday that Israeli officials have long been warning that Islamic militants may try to sabotage the process.

The militants "do not want us to move forward," Sneh told Israel Radio. But, he added, "the dialogue will continue."

In the wake of the attack, Israeli police were put on heightened alert throughout the country.

The attack in Netanya, located about 11 miles west of the boundary with the territories, further fueled an ongoing debate over whether to create a physical separation between Israel and the West Bank.

"I think we must move forward and view the separation as a central objective when we reach a final agreement with the Palestinians," Communications Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer said.

Knesset member Uzi Landau, a member of the Likud opposition, charged that Barak has adopted too soft an attitude toward the Palestinian Authority.

"It is very clear that terrorist attacks we saw this morning in Netanya are not only continuing but will continue, because the government relates with forgiveness to all of the Palestinian Authority violations," Landau said.

"Arafat was much more determined in his fight against terror" during the tenure of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he added. "There were hardly any terrorist attacks. But apparently Arafat is not afraid of Mr. Barak."