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Security officials at the site of the suicide bombing in Dimona on Monday. (AP)
Last update - 22:52 04/02/2008
Hamas claims Dimona attack, says bombers came from Hebron
By Amos Harel and Mijal Grinberg, Haaretz Correspondents and Haaretz Service
Tags: Israel, Dimona 

Hamas' armed wing claimed responsibility for a Palestinian suicide bombing that killed a woman in Dimona on Monday, the first such attack inside Israel claimed by Hamas since 2004, a Hamas source told Reuters.

Both the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Bridgade and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine claimed responsibility for the attack earlier in the day.

Palestinians had reported that the militants, who they said were from Gaza, entered Israel through Egypt, but the Hamas source said the two Palestinians who died during the attack came from the West Bank city of Hebron. Israel Police were still investigating.
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The last time Hamas' armed wing claimed responsibility for suicide bombings inside Israel was August 2004, when 16 people were killed and 100 wounded in explosions on two buses in the southern Israeli city of Be'er Sheva.

The suicide bomber blew himself up in the southern town of Dimona at around 10:30 A.M. Monday, killing a woman from the town and wounding 11 others, in the first terror attack of its kind in over a year. Click here for map

Negev Police Chief Yossi Porianta said that there had been two suicide bombers, but only one managed to detonate his explosives belt; the other was shot dead by security forces before he could blow himself up.

The second bomber had apparently been knocked out by the force of the first blast and was about to detonate his own belt, when rescue teams noticed the explosives and alerted police, who shot him at point blank.

Abu Fouad, a spokesman for the Fatah-allied Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades - which claimed responsibility for the attack - said the operation had been planned for a month, but was made possible after militants violently opened Gaza's border with Egypt on January 23. He said the attackers sneaked into Egypt after the border breach, then crossed into Israel using unspecified private contacts. He added that Dimona was chosen because it has never been hit before.

Security forces had been on high alert due to fears that the breach in the border fence between Gaza and Egypt would lead to an increase in terrorist attacks against Israel.

Soroka Medical Center in Be'er Sheva said that one person was in critical condition, with apparent head injuries; two people were moderately wounded and eight others had light wounds.

"We heard a big explosion, and people began running," a shop owner who gave her name as Revital told Army Radio. "I saw pieces of bodies flying in the air."

Other witnesses described the explosion as "massive."

A large number of rescue services and police crews rushed to the shopping center in the wake of the blast. The Magen David Adom rescue service said that at least 20 ambulances had been sent to evacuate the wounded, and Police Commissioner David Cohen also dispatched a helicopter from Jerusalem to assist rescue services the evacuation.

Dr. Michael Sherf, the director of Soroka Medical Center, said the bomb had been packed with ball bearings, making the impact more potent.

David Dahan, a 58-year-old man disabled by a hip injury, had just finished his morning cup of coffee at a local cafe when the blast went off about two meters away.

"There was a great explosion and a great ball of fire came toward me," said Dahan, who uses a walker to get around. "I saw him (the bomber) fall. I was hit, but I held on to my walker... My clothes were covered with his flesh."

Dahan's eye was covered with bloody bandages, and ball bearings were lodged inside his chest and the swollen left side of his face. A leg and arm were also injured.

Dr. Baruch Mandelzweig said he was at his clinic nearby when he heard the blast. He and his nurses rushed out to the street to see what had happened, and saw body parts strewn around everywhere.

They spotted a critically injured man whose head was moving, and began to treat him before realizing he was the second attacker.

"We saw an explosive belt," he said. "We ran away, and later we heard he had been shot," Mandelzweig said.

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades said it carried out the attack, claiming responsibility in communcation with international news outlets, but a Fatah official in the West Bank denied the group's involvement.

The conflicting statements reflected divisions in Fatah as its leader Mahmoud Abbas pursues U.S.-backed peace talks with Israel for the first time in seven years.

A Fatah source said earlier that the "Army of Palestine" wing of Al-Aqsa had carried out the attack, along with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).

Fatah was quoted as saying that 2008 would be a year of suicide attacks, Channel 2 Television reported.

Yellow Fatah flags flew outside the Gaza home of one of the attackers, 22-year-old Luay Laghwani, and Al Aqsa gunmen fired in the air in tribute to him. His sobbing mother, Ibtissam, held up a picture of him as a young teenager, while male relatives scolded her for crying, saying she should be proud her son was a martyr.

She said her son had gone to Egypt three times after the border was breached, and last saw him on Wednesday afternoon. He gave no indication that he was about to embark on a suicide mission, she said.

The other attacker was named as 24-year-old Moussa Arafat.

Dimona, some 40 kilometers from Be'er Sheva, is the site of Israel's nuclear reactor. The explosion took place about 10 kilometers from the reactor site, where it is widely believed that atomic weapons were developed. Israel neither admits nor denies having nuclear arms, following a policy of ambiguity designed to keep its neighbors unsure of its military capability.

Shortly after the attack, Dimona, which has until now been spared an attack, shut down all the city's schools and kindergartens.

The last suicide attack in Israel was on January 29, 2007, when a bomber killed three people in a bakery in the southernmost city of Eilat.

Emergency numbers:
Soroka Medical Center - 12 55 177
Magen David Adom - 1 800 600 101

Related articles:
  • After Dimona attack, Shas chair calls for end to talks with PA
  • ANALYSIS: The Gaza border is closed, but the bomb is ticking
  • Egyptian forces detain Palestinian carrying explosives
  • IAF strike wounds three in Gaza following Dimona attack
  • Officials: Israel won't let Gaza border breach threaten security
  • Egypt: Hamas and Fatah should control Gaza border together
  • Shin Bet: Militants smuggled advanced weapons into Gaza
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      1.   Gaza-Egypt-Sinai-Dimona 11:05  |  Born In The USA 04/02/08
      2.   Right to resist or War Crime? 11:10  |  Joe Sittizen 04/02/08
      3.   this government must go immediately 11:20  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 04/02/08
      4.   My Sympathies To The Families. 11:20  |  Levi 04/02/08
      5.   War Claims Casualties from all sides 11:23  |  An Arab Neighbor 04/02/08
      6.   Congratulations to the police officer,best wishes for the wounded 11:24  |  Absolute Sweden 04/02/08
      7.   Mr Happy 11:24  |  Get out of There 04/02/08
      8.   Here we go again 11:25  |  Nerys 04/02/08
      9.   ISRAEL IS WAITING FOR THIS, ABBAS IS FINISHED 11:29  |  indrajaya 04/02/08
      10.   Thanks Egypt 11:38  |  Nerys 04/02/08
      11.   RESPONSE NUMBER 1-BEASTLY. 11:39  |  Dangalil 04/02/08
      12.   The factory of suicide bombers f 11:41  |  Ivan 04/02/08
      13.   Sinai is and always was an open border 11:41  |  Dror 04/02/08
      14.   Mr. Happy # 8 11:44  |  ChanahS 04/02/08
      15.   To # 1 uncorruptnewssource - And the most corrupt 11:44  |  Dagma 04/02/08
      16.   Build the security fence between Israel and Egypt 11:46  |  Judah 04/02/08
      17.   Are shopping centers "military targets"? 11:52  |  Hastaroth 04/02/08
      18.   To Absolute Sweden 11:52  |  IsraeliArab 04/02/08
      19.   who knew 11:53  |  immortal 04/02/08
      20.   @1 11:54  |  Nerys 04/02/08
      21.   MR HAPPY Will yoiu stay happy for the consequences. 11:57  |  PETER SM 04/02/08
      22.   A HUNGRY MAN, IS ANGRY MAN 11:58  |  Marco 04/02/08
      23.   #16 dagma 12:00  |  urcorruptnewssource 04/02/08
      24.   A long life to the families of the victims. 12:00  |  Allon 04/02/08
      25.   War against terrorists. 12:02  |  Harold Lane 04/02/08
      26.   When is the border fence completed?? 12:06  |  Phil 04/02/08
      27.   6: Another Arab jihadist speaks 12:11  |  David Teich 04/02/08
      28.   My condolencies 12:12  |  KUTW 04/02/08
      29.   Best wishes to the wounded 12:13  |  KUTW 04/02/08
      30.   Dire perspective for Israel, Palestinians and the U.S...... 12:15  |  Swiss (Dino) 04/02/08
      31.   Suicide bomber 12:17  |  Ralph 04/02/08
      32.   To Marco,No.23 12:17  |  Hastaroth 04/02/08
      33.   What a Suprise! 12:18  |  Mark 04/02/08
      34.   to#19 Arab 12:19  |  Marcelo 04/02/08
      35.   Palestinians will CELEBRATE today..... 12:21  |  Dolly 04/02/08
      36.   MR.HAPPY"safe" in Londonistan?.Avoid the tube 12:22  |  PETER SM 04/02/08
      37.   it was a trick 12:23  |  Amedeo 04/02/08
      38.   Olmert`s indecisiveness and naivety 12:24  |  Chaim Gorenstein 04/02/08
      39.   EGYPT IS FULLY RESPONSIBLE 12:26  |  MJ 04/02/08
      40.   answer to Harold Lane 12:32  |  Ivan 04/02/08
      41.   Total siege should be imposed on Gaza strip 12:32  |  Rafi 04/02/08
      42.   Who is an exploding person? 12:33  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 04/02/08
      43.   # 1 SPOT ON!! 12:33  |  Logic! 04/02/08
      44.   And the Palestinians cry about "collective punishment" 12:45  |  Conroy 04/02/08
      45.   For Mr Happy 12:45  |  Reuven 04/02/08
      46.   Islamofascists at work, as usual.......... 12:52  |  maurice 04/02/08
      47.   Simple solution.. 12:59  |  Salahudin the Great 04/02/08
      48.   On my post num 28 13:15  |  KUTW 04/02/08
      49.   My support to Israel 13:17  |  KUTW 04/02/08
      50.   Filthy act but we ALL must be on alert. 13:21  |  K 04/02/08
      51.   42. Margie in Tel Aviv: an exploding person 13:21  |  KUTW 04/02/08
      52.   condemnable.... 13:27  |  Teresa-Maria (Tess) 04/02/08
      53.   NEWS FLASH.... WE ARE OUR OF VIRGINS 13:35  |  Message From Heaven 04/02/08
      54.   why the surprise... 13:35  |  ravi 04/02/08
      55.   KUTW 13:42  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 04/02/08
      56.   Raising Funds For The Wall 13:45  |  Smat Person 04/02/08
      57.   KUTW #49 13:45  |  Piet Paulusma 04/02/08
      58.   Apparently this terrorism is `justified` - 13:46  |  The Judge 04/02/08
      59.   A question to Mr Happy in London 13:49  |  The Judge 04/02/08
      60.   Who cares? 13:51  |  Yessir Ibn Badkarma 04/02/08
      61.   Ravi in punjab 13:52  |  The Judge 04/02/08
      62.   Suicide bombing is simply wrong 13:53  |  El-Birawi 04/02/08
      63.   55. Margie 13:57  |  KUTW 04/02/08
      64.   to Mr Happy #7 13:58  |  Gabe 04/02/08
      65.   57 Piet Paulusma 14:00  |  KUTW 04/02/08
      66.   More of the Same 14:09  |  Yaakov Sullivan 04/02/08
      67.   #5 homicide bombing is unexcusable no matter what you say. 14:20  |  Mike 04/02/08
      68.   Marco, there is NO hunger in Gaza 14:21  |  A Jew 04/02/08
      69.