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CNN Live Today

Suicide Bombings Rock Israel Yet Again

Aired May 20, 2002 - 12:32   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Suicide bombings rocking Israel once again. The most recent came overnight in Northern Israel, following a deadly bombing in Netanya the day before.

Our bureau chief in Jerusalem, Mike Hanna, tracking this for us, where it is now the evening there in the Middle East -- Mike, good evening to you.

MIKE HANNA, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Well, hello there, Bill.

There had been a two-week lull in suicide bombing attacks against Israeli civilian targets that. That lull ended abruptly Sunday. Also, this morning, a suicide bomb attack in Northern Israel: There, a man with explosives strapped to his body was turned away from a private bus. He was then approached by two police officers and detonated the explosives which were strapped to his body.

Only the man himself was killed. There were no other injuries. No group has yet claimed responsibility for that attack. But there were injuries and there were deaths in Netanya late Sunday. There, a Palestinian walked into an open-air market dressed in an Israeli army uniform. He detonated an explosive device, killing himself, three Israelis, and injuring as many as 50.

The Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the PFLP, claimed responsibility for that attack, a claim that has been verified by Israeli intelligence sources. In a fax sent to news agencies, the PFLP said the attack was carried out because of the ongoing imprisonment of the group's leader, who is a prison in Jericho under U.S. and British supervision.

The Palestinian Authority has sharply condemned the attack, saying that it removes the promise of achieving a Palestinian state; however, the Israeli government quick again to hold the Palestinian Authority responsible. And Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was among those who attended a briefing earlier today of the Israeli Knesset, or Parliament's Military and Foreign Affairs Committee. There was a closed-door briefing given there by Israeli military intelligence officials.

And several sources say that the briefing was deeply pessimistic. The message from these intelligence officials: that more suicide attacks are in the offing -- Bill.

HEMMER: Mike Hanna live in Jerusalem -- thank you, Mike.

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