Tel Aviv blast ‘neccesitates wall’

TEL AVIV – A Palestinian bomb killed a woman at a bus stop in Israel yesterday in an attack Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said proved the need to continue building a West Bank barrier declared illegal by the World Court.

In his first public comments on Friday’s non-binding opinion by the UN’s top legal body, Sharon said the bombing was carried out “under the auspices of the ruling”, suggesting the decision would only encourage Palestinian violence. “I want to make clear, the state of Israel absolutely rejects the ruling of the International Court of Justice in The Hague,” Sharon said.”It is a one-sided and politically motivated ruling.”Sharon spoke after a bomb hidden in weeds blew up at a bus stop in Tel Aviv during the morning rush hour.It was the first such Palestinian attack in Israel since March and departed from a pattern of suicide bombings over the past four years.Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, part of president Yasser Arafat’s Fatah faction, claimed responsibility and said it was avenging Israel’s killing of militants and civilians.Sharon said the construction of the 600-km barrier “is the most reasonable measure to take against this criminal terrorism”.Israeli officials have said the 200 km of the West Bank barrier completed so far have made it more difficult for suicide bombers to cross into Israel.The project has separated thousands of Palestinians from their fields, schools and medical services – hardship which Israeli leaders say is outweighed by the security the barrier will offer people in the Jewish state.The ruling heightened Israeli concern about international sanctions although its key ally, the United States, has vetoed UN Security Council resolutions against the Jewish state in the past.Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said yesterday Israel had asked Washington to intervene to prevent any UN moves against it.Washington has dismissed the UN court’s intervention and the American on the 15-judge panel wrote a dissenting opinion.Israeli deputy defence minister Zeev Boim said it was likely Palestinians who planted the Tel Aviv bomb slipped into Israel from the West Bank in places where the barrier has yet to be completed.”Following the World Court decision, the attack is not so ironic as it was likely.The attack is proof of what we knew all along, that the high motivation of the Palestinian militants has not diminished,” Boim said.- Nampa-Reuters”I want to make clear, the state of Israel absolutely rejects the ruling of the International Court of Justice in The Hague,” Sharon said.”It is a one-sided and politically motivated ruling.”Sharon spoke after a bomb hidden in weeds blew up at a bus stop in Tel Aviv during the morning rush hour.It was the first such Palestinian attack in Israel since March and departed from a pattern of suicide bombings over the past four years.Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, part of president Yasser Arafat’s Fatah faction, claimed responsibility and said it was avenging Israel’s killing of militants and civilians.Sharon said the construction of the 600-km barrier “is the most reasonable measure to take against this criminal terrorism”.Israeli officials have said the 200 km of the West Bank barrier completed so far have made it more difficult for suicide bombers to cross into Israel.The project has separated thousands of Palestinians from their fields, schools and medical services – hardship which Israeli leaders say is outweighed by the security the barrier will offer people in the Jewish state.The ruling heightened Israeli concern about international sanctions although its key ally, the United States, has vetoed UN Security Council resolutions against the Jewish state in the past.Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said yesterday Israel had asked Washington to intervene to prevent any UN moves against it.Washington has dismissed the UN court’s intervention and the American on the 15-judge panel wrote a dissenting opinion.Israeli deputy defence minister Zeev Boim said it was likely Palestinians who planted the Tel Aviv bomb slipped into Israel from the West Bank in places where the barrier has yet to be completed.”Following the World Court decision, the attack is not so ironic as it was likely.The attack is proof of what we knew all along, that the high motivation of the Palestinian militants has not diminished,” Boim said.- Nampa-Reuters