Tel-Chai Nation

In another blow to Ariel Sharon's credibility, a sucide bomber attacked a shopping mall in Netanya today. The Islamic Jihad and Al-Aksa Martyr's Brigade, the latter which is affiliated with Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah gang, both claimed responsibility:

A suicide bomber exploded outside the Sharon mall in the coastal city of Netanya, north of Tel Aviv, killing five people and wounding more than fifty, at least 3 in critical condition.

Ami Klein, a lawyer who witnessed the explosion from a nearby courthouse, told Israel Radio that the bomber tried to enter the mall but was prevented by a guard and policemen. "The boom shook the entire courthouse," Klein said.

Police said the bomber blew himself up near an entrance where shoppers undergo a routine security check.

Police and security guards spotted the bomber and pushed him up against a wall, officials said. "Just as police were going to check him, he put his hand in a bag and blew up," Avi Sasson, a deputy police commander, told Israel Radio.

The blast shattered windows and pocked the outside of the brown, multistory building. Pieces of concrete were ripped off the facade, blood stained the base of the building and debris was scattered on the sidewalk.

"I heard a huge bomb. It felt like my head was exploding. I turned around and I saw a red ball of fire, and then I ran," said Masouda Israel, a 67-year-old woman who was in Netanya for a doctor's appointment. "You see these things on TV, but when you're there, it's totally different."

It definately is. That aside, it serves to damage Ariel Sharon's credibility on security issues even more.

Speaking of which, now that I think of it, it's eerie that the mall where the suicide bomber blew himself up happens to have the same family name as the prime minister himself.

Update: here's also a report from Daily Alert that tells that Abbas is offering reward payments to the suicide bomber's family (via IRIS Blog.)

Also available at Basil's Blog, Bloggin' Out Loud, bRight and Early, Iowa Voice, NIF, Oblogatory Anecdotes, Outside the Beltway, Peakah's Provocations, Point Five, Random Yak, The Right Nation, Third World County, TMH's Bacon Bits, The Uncooperative Blogger, Wizbang. Others on the subject include IRIS Blog, Roger L. Simon, One Jerusalem, Meryl Yourish, Power Line, Michelle Malkin, Gindy.

Labels: jihad