Israel was reacting with uncharacteristic calm after a suicide bombing on Monday in Tel Aviv by a Palestinian teenager killed three Israelis -- a test of Israel's pledge to show restraint in the wake of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's illness.
The 16-year-old bomber blew himself up on a narrow street in Tel Aviv's Carmel Market, crowded with simple stalls and stands, scattering bloody vegetables and spices on the ground.
PHOTO: EPA
The usual signs of an imminent Israeli military counterstrike were absent this time -- the hurried high-level security meetings and troop movements -- and it appeared that Israel would not hit back as it has in the past.
Early yesterday the army destroyed the homes of the bomber and those of two men Israel says were behind the attack, the army said.
Israel routinely destroys the homes of Palestinians involved in bombings, hoping it will act as a deterrent.
Using general terms, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon denounced the attack and pledged action.
Sharon said Israel "will not stop its war against terrorism" and repeated his commitment to unilaterally disengage from the Palestinians, pulling out of the Gaza Strip next year.
"I'm not changing my policy until there are changes in the Palestinian administration and until it stops its incitement and its terror," Sharon said.
Israeli officials had said they would show restraint in military operations to give the Palestinian leadership a chance to maintain order.
From his hospital bed, Arafat has swiftly condemned a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv -- a sign the ailing Palestinian leader wants to convey the impression he is still in charge despite deteriorating health.
Arafat appealed to "all Palestinian factions to avoid harming Israelis," his aide, Nabil Abu Rdeneh, quoted him as saying just hours after the bombing.
Abu Rdeneh relayed the statement to reporters as Arafat's wife, Suha, dictated it to him over his cellphone. Later, Arafat took the phone from his wife and asked Abu Rdeneh directly to make sure the statement was circulated.
Days after Arafat was rushed from his battered Ramallah headquarters in the West Bank to Paris for emergency treatment, Palestinian officials say their leader's condition has improved markedly -- and that he does not suffer from leukemia, cancer or any type of poisoning.
None of those conclusions have been publicly confirmed by French physicians involved in his treatment, who were expected to deliver their diagnosis as early as yesterday or as late as Thursday.
Only a handful of people have direct access to him in the hospital: his wife, Suha; his chief of staff, Ramzi Khoury; his nephew, Nasser Al-Kidwa, the Palestinian representative to the UN; and Leila Shahid, the Palestinian envoy to France.
Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath spoke to reporters after separate phone conversations with Suha Arafat and Leila Shahid. He quoted both as saying that Arafat's condition had improved and that he was eating well.
Kehinde Sanni spends his days smoothing out dents and repainting scratched bumpers in a modest autobody shop in Lagos. He has never left Nigeria, yet he speaks glowingly of Burkina Faso military leader Ibrahim Traore. “Nigeria needs someone like Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso. He is doing well for his country,” Sanni said. His admiration is shaped by a steady stream of viral videos, memes and social media posts — many misleading or outright false — portraying Traore as a fearless reformer who defied Western powers and reclaimed his country’s dignity. The Burkinabe strongman swept into power following a coup in September 2022
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
‘FRAGMENTING’: British politics have for a long time been dominated by the Labor Party and the Tories, but polls suggest that Reform now poses a significant challenge Hard-right upstarts Reform UK snatched a parliamentary seat from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labor Party yesterday in local elections that dealt a blow to the UK’s two establishment parties. Reform, led by anti-immigrant firebrand Nigel Farage, won the by-election in Runcorn and Helsby in northwest England by just six votes, as it picked up gains in other localities, including one mayoralty. The group’s strong showing continues momentum it built up at last year’s general election and appears to confirm a trend that the UK is entering an era of multi-party politics. “For the movement, for the party it’s a very, very big
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
RSS