Israel Reacts to Mall Bombing

May 18 -- The first sign of trouble at the mall was the appearance of a nervous man dressed in an oversized coat amid the crowd of shoppers on what was a warm day in the Israeli coastal town of Netanya.

Shoppers at the Hasharon mall immediately alerted mall security, but when a guard stopped the neatly dressed man, he set off explosives strapped to his waist.

The entrance was engulfed in a cloud of black smoke as the front facade of the modern indoor mall was reduced to rubble and pandemonium reigned.

"There was panic everywhere," said Shimon Tarshish, a Netanya resident who was at the entrance to the mall when the explosion occurred. "The area was covered in black smoke and there was rubble everywhere. People were screaming and I saw pieces of bodies and clothing and an abandoned pram."

Seven people, including the suicide bomber, died and more than 40 were wounded.

Hamas Claims Responsibility

The explosion came around noon a day before the Sabbath, a busy shopping time in the country. But Israeli Assistant Police Commander Aharon Franco told Israel's Channel Two television the situation could have been a lot worse.

"A bigger tragedy was prevented because the terrorist was checked and was turned away at the entrance to the mall," said Franco.

The Islamic militant organization Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack and a senior Palestinian official identified the bomber as Mahmoud Ahmed Marmash, 21, a resident of the West Bank town of Tulkarm.

Anger and Retaliation

Several hours later, in apparent retaliation for the suicide bomb attack, Israeli F-16 fighter planes launched rockets on Palestinian security installations in the West Bank towns of Nablus and Ramallah.

It was the first time Israel has used fighter planes to attack Palestinian buildings since the 1967 Arab-Israeli War.

Israel also shelled the headquarters of Palestinian security forces in the West Bank town of Nablus. Witnesses said a prison and a building housing the special forces were targeted.