15 die in hotel suicide bombing
A Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up in an Israeli hotel dining room today killing at least 15 people and wounding a more than 100 others.
The Islamic militant group Hamas claimed responsibility for what Israeli government spokesman Gideon Meir called a ‘‘Passover massacre’’.
The bombing threatened to derail the latest truce mission, just hours after US President George W Bush said his envoy to the region had made some progress.
Israel, which had reluctantly accepted the latest ceasefire proposals, said it would have to reassess its policy and held Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat responsible for the bombing.
Police Minister Uzi Landau called for massive retaliation, saying Arafat’s Palestinian Authority must be destroyed.
There was no Palestinian reaction to the attack.
The explosion went off at about 7.20pm (1720 GMT) Wednesday, as dozens of guests in the Park Hotel, along Netanya’s boardwalk, settled down for the Passover Seder in the dining hall.
Guests were dressed in their holiday finest; the women in festive dresses, the men in white shirts and dark pants.
The suicide bomber, carrying a large bag of explosives, had made his way past an armed guard at the hotel entrance, who did not consider him suspicious, Israel TV said.
From the lobby, he ran toward the dining hall, where he blew himself up.
The explosion tore through the ground floor of the hotel, blowing out walls and windows and overturning tables and chairs.
Bits of rubble and wires dangled from the ceiling. In the chaos, one table remained standing, covered by a white cloth and the elaborate Seder place settings still in place.
Some of the wounded staggered out of the lobby, which was plunged into darkness by the explosion.
Others were taken to ambulances in stretchers, including a young boy who had an oxygen mask pressed to the face.
Police said 15 people were killed and more than 100 wounded, including several who were in serious condition. It was one of the deadliest suicide bombings since Israeli-Palestinian fighting broke out in September 2000.
‘‘They attacked innocent Israelis on one of the most sacred nights to Jewish people, Passover,’’ said Meir, the Israeli government spokesman.
Israeli police had been on high alert for possible attacks during the Passover holiday, with more than 10,000 officers deployed in potential trouble spots.
The country’s police commissioner, Shlomo Aharonishki, said it was impossible to prevent all attacks.
‘‘Even with more policemen and a broader deployment, we cannot block the centres of the cities,’’ Aharonishki said.
In a statement, Izzedine al Qassam, the military wing of Hamas, claimed responsibility for the bombing.
Hamas, along with other militant groups, has carried out dozens of suicide bombings and shootings since Israeli-Palestinian fighting broke out in September 2000.
Israel has said repeatedly it could not tolerate more attacks on its civilians.
Earlier this week, Sharon convened his security Cabinet to discuss possible options in the event the truce mission fails.
One idea raised was a large-scale military operation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Israel has held Arafat responsible for the string of recent attacks, saying he has done nothing to rein in militants.
Raanan Gissin, a Sharon adviser, said the attack ‘‘will require us to reevaluate our overall policy.’’
‘‘We are still working to achieve a ceasefire to which we are fully committed, but if the Palestinians have decided to choose the road of terrorism ... then we have to decide what measures we will take,’’ Gissin said.
The bombing came just hours after Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah presented a new peace initiative at the Arab summit in Beirut, offering Israel normal relations with the Arab world in exchange for a complete withdrawal from the territories it occupied in the 1967 Mideast war.
Arafat, who remains confined to the West Bank by Israel, embraced the initiative in a televised speech, and said he hoped it would be adopted by the summit.
Israeli officials responded guardedly, saying the Saudi plan was too vague and somewhat weakened the idea of ‘‘normalization’’ initially floated by Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah.
The prince’s last-minute addition - a demand that Israel recognise the right of return of Palestinian refugees - is ‘‘totally unacceptable,’’ said Danny Ayalon, a Sharon adviser.
Sharon, meanwhile, acknowledged that Israel and the United States have sometimes conflicting interests in the regions. He suggested that Washington’s efforts to rally Arab support for a possible campaign against Iraq hamper Israel’s campaign against Palestinian militants.
The prime minister said he has tried, but failed to persuade the Bush administration to impose sanctions on Arafat if the Palestinian leader breaks repeated promises to rein in militants and prevent attacks on Israelis.
‘‘The Americans don’t see eye-to-eye with us on the situation ...,’’ Sharon said in an interview published in the Maariv daily.
‘‘There is a conflict of interests between the need of the Americans to form a coalition for their possible action against Iraq and our need to fight Palestinian terrorism.’’
