Apparently, majority of the people died in this martyrdom attack were Israeli soldiers, who were stationed in Ariel to protect the settlement. A forceful message to the occupiers, either get out or be blown out.
Sunday, 27 October, 2002, 15:01 GMT
West Bank bomber kills three soldiers
The bomb went off at a petrol station
A suicide bomber has killed three Israeli soldiers at the entrance to a Jewish settlement in the northern West Bank, say Israeli security sources.
We can say with bitterness that the Palestinian Authority has done nothing against terrorism
Avi Pazner
Israeli Government spokesman At least 16 people are reported to have been injured, some seriously, and the bomber also died.
The Israeli Government has condemned the attack, saying that the Palestinian Authority led by Yasser Arafat, was doing nothing, while Palestinian terrorists continued to wage a campaign of terror against Israeli civilians.
In a separate incident, Israeli undercover forces killed two Palestinian militants in the nearby city of Nablus.
Israel said its forces had tried to detain the militants, who had then opened fire.
Palestinian sources said the shootings were assassinations, and said the men were members of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.
Local officials said three people, including a child, were wounded.
‘Suspicious’
The suicide attack took place in a petrol station at the entrance to Ariel, one of the largest settlements in the West Bank.
A group of soldiers and civilians were approached by a “suspicious-looking person”, according to Shachar Ayalon, Israel’s police chief for the West Bank.
The man had reportedly driven up to the petrol station, and had been noticed by off-duty soldiers eating at a food stand.
He put his hands up, after a woman shouted “Suicide terrorist!”.
The soldiers approached the man - “then they tried to grab him and disarm him,” said Yitzhak Zahavi, a reserve soldier slightly injured in the attack.
“When they saw he had his explosives on his body they shot him twice,” said Mr Zahavi.
It was unclear whether the shots detonated the explosives or whether the bomber managed to do so himself.
“The terrorist was still burning when we got there and we extinguished the fire immediately,” said a fire brigade official.
There was apparently little material damage at the settlement, which is one of the largest Jewish settlements in the West Bank, with a population of about 17,000 people.
Roadblock
The attack came a day after US envoy William Burns left the region.
An Israeli soldier was among the fatalities
He had held talks with Israel and the Palestinians on an internationally-backed “roadmap”, which aims to move the two sides towards peace.
However, Mr Burns had failed to make headway with either side.
“Israel is pursuing a roadmap for peace with the United States. The Palestinians have answered with a roadmap of more terrorism and murder,” said Israeli Government spokesman Dore Gold after Sunday’s attack.
Last Monday, two suicide bombers killed 14 people when they drove a car loaded with explosives into a bus in northern Israel.