Three Israelis were killed and 15 others injured, one seriously, early Tuesday morning in a Palestinian attack on two Tel Aviv restaurants.
Around 2.15 A.M., a Palestinian gunman opened with an M-16 assault rifle from the "Ma'ariv" bridge on the Seafood Market restaurant and the next door restaurant, a main Tel Aviv artery. Channel Two TV reported that when the Palestinian's weapon jammed, he went into the Seafood Market and began stabbing the restaurant-goers. The three Israelis were stabbed to death, Haaretz reported.
One of the clients in the Seafood Market, shot and killed the gunman.
Police also said the gunman was wearing an explosive belt which did not detonate. "He also apparently tried to throw a grenade, but it did not explode," Tel Aviv police commander Yossi Sedbon told Israel Radio.
Eyewitnesses said the attack had been carried out by two Palestinians, but there was no confirmation from the police. Security forces, however, closed off the area and launched a search for a possible accomplice.
The Qatari-based Al-Jazeera reported that the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed group associated with Palestinain Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's Fatah party, took responsibility for the attack. The attacker was identified as Ibrahim Mohammad Hasuna, a resident of the Jabalya refugee camp in the Gaza Strip.
In a call to Reuters, the group said the attack came "in retaliation for the massacre of the women and children in Ramallah and the massacres in Jenin."
It was referring to the Israeli army's killing of 16 Palestinians Monday, including the wife of a Hamas activist and their three children, killed by an Israeli tank shell fired on two cars in the West Bank city of Ramallah. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
