A suicide bomber blew himself up at a busy intersection in northern Israel on Sunday, as five Palestinians were killed by Israeli troops and 30 suspected militants were rounded in Israeli raids on two West Bank villages. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, interviewed by the Associated Press at his Ramallah headquarters hours before the latest bombing attack, called on the United States to press Israel to stop it assaults on the Palestinians and pledged to crack down on the militants staging a campaign of terror in Israel.
Israel, however, seemed hardly impressed with his promises and efforts so far. Convening a cabinet meeting at the nearby Israeli military headquarters in the West Bank, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said, “In light of what is going on, we will apparently have to increase our (military) activity.” He did not elaborate, but there has been speculation that Israeli troops might take over one of the West Bank towns such as Jenin, from where many of the recent attackers have come.
Sunday’s suicide bomber - also from the Jenin area - was the only person to die in the latest attack, which took place at a bus stop in the northern port city of Haifa. Eleven others were injured, none seriously.
An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the bomber planned to set off two explosions, first a small blast, drawing rescue workers to the scene, and then a larger bomb strapped to his body the bomber detonated the first bomb early as he was spotted by police, and the second bomb was defused. Bureau Report