A woman was killed and 20 people wounded as a bomb exploded at the start of the morning rush hour in Tel Aviv yesterday, in the first such attack by Palestinian militants inside Israel for nearly four months.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said the attack was carried out "under the patronage" of a decision by the World Court which ruled on Friday that the West Bank separation barrier was illegal.
Emergency services rushed to the scene of the blast near a long-distance bus stop in Israel's commercial capital at around 7am and sped the badly injured to hospital.
A woman casualty was declared dead on arrival at hospital, police and medical sources said.
"One woman was killed and we have around 20 people injured," a spokesman for Tel Aviv police said.
Tel Aviv police chief Yossi Setbon said that a device had been concealed in shrubbery.
"It was caused by a charge which had been placed close to a bus stop, in the middle of bushes," he told reporters at the scene of the explosion. "A bus and nearby buildings were damaged."
Police and firefighters, using sniffer dogs, were searching the area for any other bombs and methodically gathering bolts and screws which had been packed into the device.
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, a militant group linked to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's mainstream Fatah movement, swiftly claimed responsibility for the attack in a telephone call to reporters.
A spokesman who declined to give his name said the bombing was carried out to avenge crimes committed by Israeli forces in the West Bank town of Nablus and in the Gaza Strip, where troops recently carried out deadly raids.
The attack came just two days after the International Court of Justice dealt a stunning blow to Israel by declaring its West Bank separation barrier illegal, and ruling that those parts of the structure built on Palestinian territory must be torn down.
The Israeli government has argued that the recent fall in attacks by Palestinians in Israel is a direct result of the barrier, about a third of which has been built so far.
Sharon made clear at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting in Jerusalem that his government would ignore the ruling, which he linked to yesterday's attack.
"An hour ago, an Israeli woman was murdered by Palestinian terrorist criminals and other civilians were killed. We are all praying for their wellbeing," the premier said.
"The murderous act that was carried out this morning was the first to occur under the patronage of the World Court's decision," Sharon said.
The last attack on Israeli soil came back on March 14, when 10 Israelis as well as two suicide bombers were killed in the southern port of Ashdod.
A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck off the southern coast of Mindanao in the Philippines at 7:38am today, prompting the US Tsunami Warning System to issue an alert for neighboring countries, including Taiwan. The system issued a purple alert indicating a "tsunami threat." The potential threat zone includes Taiwan, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Yap and Palau. Philippine authorities were assessing the damage from the quake, with the office of civil defense seeking to verifying initial reports that 15 people had been killed and 129 injured in the region, mostly from falling debris. Arlene Hollero, disaster chief of Maasim town in the Philippines' Sarangani Province,
‘GRAY ZONE’ PRESSURE: Beijing’s activities are intended to create the deceitful impression that China has jurisdiction over the area around Taiwan, the CGA said Taiwan’s rights over its territorial waters and exclusive economic zone must not be violated by any country, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday, adding that it will not accept any unprovoked actions. The council issued the remarks in response to the China Coast Guard conducting maritime enforcement drills near eastern Taiwan and claiming to fully exercise China’s maritime administrative law enforcement authority. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) has been closely monitoring the situation and is taking concrete steps to defend the nation’s sovereignty and secure its waters, the council said. China has no sovereign rights over the waters off eastern
RESILIENCE: Taiwan plays a key role in semiconductors, energy, information infrastructure and advanced manufacturing, AIT Director Raymond Greene said Taiwan’s continued investment in deterrence and resilience remains vital, especially in uncrewed systems and other emerging technologies, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Raymond Greene said yesterday. Greene made the remarks at the annual National Strategic Summit on Supply Chain Resilience held by the Research Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET), a government-backed think tank. As Taiwan last year became the US’ fourth-largest trading partner and supply chain security is becoming more important, cooperation in emerging technologies continues to deepen between the two countries, he said. The US is committed to accelerating innovation, building key infrastructure, strengthening cooperation
The National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology yesterday showcased its locally developed variants of the Vision 60 robotic patrol dog, which it plans to deploy on the nation’s outlying territories in the South China Sea. The variants were produced under the Joint Lab project — created by the institute and domestic companies — and assembled with domestically produced motors, lenses and artificial intelligence (AI) systems alongside licensed tech from the US, Missile and Rocket Systems Research Division deputy director Jen Kuo-kang (任國光) told the media event at a military base in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area. Taiwan has built up its strengths
RSS