Shopping centre suicide bomber kills 12
A suicide bomber blew himself up in a crowded restaurant near a shopping mall in the northern Israeli port city of Haifa today, killing at least 12 people and wounding 40.
It was the fourth Palestinian attack in Israel in five days.
There were rival claims of responsibility by two Islamic militant groups, Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
The blast went off early this afternoon in the Matza restaurant, near a gas station and just outside the Grand Canyon shopping mall.
The explosion was so powerful that it blew out large parts of the roof. Smoke was drifting from the building, and glass shards were scattered across the ground.
Shimon Sabag, who witnessed the explosion, told Israel Radio: ‘‘Watching people on fire is just horrible. I heard an explosion, I went into the gas station and I started to deal with the injured people.
‘‘I couldn’t deal with the critical injuries so I turned to the moderate. I tried to put out the fire, even the moderate injured were on fire.’’
The restaurant was crowded, and Haifa Mayor Amram Mitzna said almost everyone inside was injured.
Dozens of ambulance workers rushed to the scene, unfolding stretchers. One man was taken to a hospital in a private car and collapsed as he emerged from the vehicle.
Israel’s Government Press Office said at least 12 people were killed and 40 wounded in the blast.
David Baker, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, suggested that in response to the attack, the Israeli military might accelerate the major offensive it launched last week in Palestinian areas.
Baker said that Israel will have to break ‘‘this chain of terror’’ and will use whatever means necessary ‘‘to achieve this at the earliest opportunity’’.
