Israel issued a thinly veiled threat to strike a serious
blow at Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority in the wake of
an unorthodox terrorist attack that killed eight soldiers
and civilians and injured many last week at a crowded bus
stop south of Tel Aviv.
The Egged bus line identified the driver as Khalil Abu
Ulbah, 36, a father of five from Gaza City's Sheikh Radwan
quarter who had driven commuting Palestinian laborers on the
Gaza-Tel Aviv route for five years.
Abu Ulbah said he had entered Israel with the clear
intention of carrying out an attack and that his decision
had not been a spur-of-the-moment one.
After a high speed chase over 10 miles, with pursuing police
firing at the speeding vehicle, the bus crashed into a large
truck, nearly breaking in two, witnesses said. Abu Ulbah was
taken from the vehicle and rushed to a nearby hospital in
serious condition.
According to security sources, the General Security Service
approved Abu Ulbah's entry permit two weeks previously. He
met the criteria set by the defense establishment -- he was
35 or older, married, with children, had a permanent place
of employment for an extended period, his employer had
promised to supervise him, and he had passed a thorough
security screening by the GSS.
The hit-and-run attack was the bloodiest single Palestinian
strike at Israelis since the late September eruption of the
Palestinian uprising.
"We cannot continue to allow a situation where, as a result
of the Palestinian Authority's lack of desire to fight
terror and cooperate with us in the war against terror, we
continue to suffer terrorist attacks," said Danny Yatom,
security advisor to outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Barak.
Outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Barak sealed off Palestinian-
ruled areas in response to the murderous attack.
Barak's office said in a statement that he had "ordered a
series of immediate steps in light of the attack, including
the closing of Palestinian Authority international
crossings, the cancellation of easing of the closure and
complete enforcement of such, as well as additional
steps."
An Israeli military spokesman said Gaza International
Airport had been closed before the bus attack due to "a
dramatic rise of attacks in Gaza." He was referring to
fierce gun battles with Palestinian gunmen which have
continued since then as well.
IDF Spokesman Brig.-Gen. Ron Kitri said that the IDF did not
find any link between the terrorist attack and the IDF
rocket attack against Massoud Iyyad.
Ahmed Abdel-Rahman, an advisor to Arafat, said that Barak
had only himself to blame for the killings, because
"violence only begets violence."
Yasser Arafat declined to condemn the fatal terrorist attack
and blamed Israel for inflaming Palestinian public anger.
"What is happening is Israel's military escalation, which
has a direct effect on the emotions of the Palestinian
people," he said during a visit to Amman.
On its web site, Hamas called the attack "an act of
heroism." The group's spiritual leader, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin,
said Israel was responsible for the attack because it
continued to occupy Palestinian land and bomb the
Palestinian people.
Another senior Hamas official, Abed al-Aziz Rantisi, said
the attack was a "popular response" to Israel's actions of
recent days.
According to Israel Radio, Abu Ulbah entered Israel in the
framework of an ongoing work project enabling 16,000 workers
to be employed in Israel under special permits, granted
according to exacting security standards, but officials of
the defense establishment had criticized the project, saying
they had warned of the possible dangers it posed.
Hours prior to the attack, Israeli officials closed Gaza's
Dahaniye airport, one day after it had opened the field to
Palestinians flying to Mecca for the annual Islamic Haj
pilgrimage. A total of 8,000 pilgrims were to have flown to
Mecca in the course of a week.
In remarks quoted by Israel Radio, Prime Minister-elect
Ariel Sharon said he viewed the attack with "the utmost
gravity," adding that, "Once again it has been proven that
from the Palestinians' standpoint, there is no difference
between Netzarim, the West Bank, Judea and Samaria, the
Lebanese border, and the country's very heart."
Army brass said that the attack was a direct result of the
Palestinian Authority's policy of encouraging terror and
violence. Chief of Staff Mofaz warned that if the PA did not
put a stop to the violence, Israeli would do everything in
its power to do so itself.
Mofaz said that as a result of the attack, the following
security steps would be taken: A complete closure on the
territories as well as a blockade on Palestinian cities in
the West Bank and Gaza, closure of the Allenby and Rafah
border crossings. In addition, a closure of the airport and
port in Rafah, and prevention of freedom of movement of
senior PA officials.
Following the terror attack, all Palestinian laborers were
ordered back to the territories, and the government said it
would review the policy of allowing Palestinians to work in
the country.
The IDF also imposed a full general closure on the West Bank
and Gaza Strip, barring all Palestinians from entering the
country. The closure will be in effect for an indefinite
period. It does not include humanitarian cases nor those
going to Mecca on pilgrimage.
VIP status for the Palestinian leadership was also canceled.
There are 72 Palestinians holding VIP 1 status who had been
allowed free entry into Israel and travel between the Gaza
Strip and the West Bank. Another 200 with VIP 2 status had
their status revoked early in the uprising.
All international crossings into the Gaza Strip were also
closed.
There has been a closure since September 30, but it has been
periodically relaxed to allow tens of thousands of
Palestinian laborers into Israel to alleviate the severe
economic crisis in the Palestinian Authority. Some 7,000
Palestinian workers entered the country daily via the Erez
crossing in the Gaza Strip including the terrorist bus
driver.
Another 7,000 Palestinians with permits crossed from the
West Bank, and tens of thousands of more are believed to
have sneaked into the country. Before the unrest, some
70,000 permits were issued daily.
Egged has employed Gaza residents as drivers to bring
workers into Israel for the last seven years, and there were
no problems until the Azur incident, Egged spokesman Ron
Ratner said following the terror attack.
Egged Chairman of the Board Arik Feldman said the company
employed some 200 drivers who had undergone a rigorous
security check and approval by the General Security Service.
He said that transport of workers from Gaza was vital to the
Israeli economy and was a result of agreements between the
government and the Palestinian Authority to bring some
15,000-20,000 workers into Israel from Gaza daily.
According to Feldman, all of the drivers were at least 30
years old and most were over 40. They all had families and
had no record of security offenses. He added that whether
workers will be brought from Gaza in the future depends on
the defense authorities.
Following the attack, hundreds of angry Israelis, most of
them from the nearby Holon and Bat Yam suburbs of Tel Aviv,
called on Prime Minister-elect Ariel Sharon to take
forceful, immediate action to combat a surge of attacks on
Israelis that shattered a recent lull in violence tied to
the Palestinian uprising.
