Israel Reacts to Mall Bombing

May 18, 2001 -- 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.

The attacks came after an emergency security meeting convened by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in Tel Aviv, which had raised Palestinian fears of a retaliation.

On the streets of Netanya, there was outrage over the explosion, the third explosion in the pleasant coastal town since the current round of violence began.

"I am very furious with this," said Tarshish. "And I fear that the situation will get worse. I'm now afraid to let my children go shopping in Netanya. But I will definitely go back to the mall when it's repaired because we have to live here and we have to show that this is our country. "

Israeli government spokesman Dan Meridor today blamed Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority for the incident and said that by letting extremists out of jails, the authority was responsible for such incidents.

"They [the Palestinian Authority] are responsible for everything that occurs from within their territory, from within their jurisdiction," said Meridor.

Bush Condemns Attack

But in Gaza today, the Palestinian Authority condemned the bombing while calling on the Israeli government to show restraint.

"The Palestinian National Authority condemns operations aimed at civilians and innocent people, be it Palestinians or Israelis," Tayeb Abdel-Rahim, an adviser to Arafat, said in a statement.

In Washington today, President Bush also condemned the suicide bombing and urged all sides to break the cycle of violence.

"Violence will not lead to peace," Bush told reporters at the White House. "Violence will make it so difficult for there to be any political settlement."

Escalated Violence

The attack came after a week of escalated violence between Israelis and Palestinians, including the killing of five Palestinian policemen in the West Bank on Monday.

On Wednesday, Israeli officials announced they were establishing outposts within Palestinian-controlled parts of Gaza as a defensive move to prevent further attacks on Israel. Also Wednesday, a French television correspondent covering a clash between Palestinians and Israeli security officials in the West Bank was shot by an Israeli soldier .

While Israeli officials initially said they returned fire, witnesses — including international reporters on the scene — said the Israeli forces fired into a stone-throwing crowd.

At least 425 Palestinians, 80 Israelis and 13 Israeli Arabs have been killed since the latest Intifada erupted last September.

ABCNEWS.com's Leela Jacinto in New York, and Steve McNally and Dorit Long in Jerusalem contributed to this report.