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Newsletter : 2fax0524.txt
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Four Suicide Bombers Were Terminally Ill
By IsraelNationalNews.com
According to a Channel 10 TV News report, four of the suicide bombers who perpetrated attacks before Operation Defensive Shield were terminally ill. This has been confirmed by security officials.
Israeli Embassy in Paris Destroyed by Fire
By Paul Miller (VOA-Paris)
The Israeli Embassy in Paris has been completely destroyed by a fire that broke out early Thursday morning. The cause is under investigation although authorities think it was an accident. There will be a careful investigation into the fire, in part because of a recent series of anti-Semitic incidents in France.
Soon after the fire was reported in the early morning hours, flames were shooting out of the embassy's first floor windows. The fire, described as hot enough to shatter the building stones, quickly spread to four other floors. It took 150 firefighters more than two hours to control the fire, and several of them were injured doing so.
No one from the embassy was reported hurt. Several neighboring apartments on the exclusive side street near the Champs Elysees had to be evacuated.
The cause is under investigation by the police, the judiciary and a special laboratory. French authorities are well aware that several synagogues and Jewish school buses in France have been the targets of arson attempts in recent months. But Israel's ambassador to France, Elie Barnavi, said he believes the fire might well have been caused by a short circuit in the wiring. The embassy has been undergoing renovations. French authorities said they also believe the fire started by accident.
The Israeli foreign ministry is sending a team to inspect the ruins and evaluate the loss. Barnavi said this was a tough blow for his staff and that years of work had been destroyed.
Bomb Blast at Fuel Depot Could Have Killed Thousands
By VOA News
Israeli police said a fire from a bomb blast at the country's largest fuel storage depot was quickly extinguished Thursday, averting a major catastrophe in a heavily-populated area near Tel Aviv.
There has been no claim of responsibility. But authorities say they suspect the blast, which blew up a fuel truck near huge petroleum storage tanks, was the work of Palestinian terrorists. Israeli radio said the explosion was set off by cellular telephone.
GSS (General Security Service – Shin/Bet) officials on Thursday indicated there were no intelligence warnings of an attack targeting the Pi Glilot fuel depot.
The attack involving a bomb on a fuel truck could have led to a catastrophe experts admit, reporting there were over 80 million liters of fuel in addition to gas in the depot when the tanker went up in flames this morning.
Some 3,000 tons of gas are stored at the Pi Glilot fuel and gas depot. According to one estimate, a fire at the depot could generate an explosion that would engulf an area of several kilometers, killing thousands of residents in the area.
Such an explosion, however, would not only spark a huge fireball, it would also generate a shock wave that would destroy cars, buildings and other installations in the area.
Pi Glilot is meant to be under strict guard, and in recent years precautions have been taken to prevent an explosive device from entering the depot, and to thwart an attempt by terrorists to penetrate it. Three years ago, an exercise was held in the area to ensure readiness in the event of such an attack, which could entail the evacuation of 20,000 residents in a 1.8 kilometer radius.
The government, as well as state planning committees, have made several decisions in the last few years to relocate the depot, but none of these have been implemented, largely due to opposition by those local governments picked to host Pi Glilot.
The blast follows reports earlier this week that Israel foiled a truck bomb plot aimed at Israel's two tallest buildings - the twin Azrieli commercial towers in Tel Aviv. Authorities said the bombing plot - involving one ton of explosives - was discovered three weeks ago during Israeli military operations in the West Bank.
Israeli-Arab Loyalties
By IsraelNationalNews,com
Five residents of Nazareth were indicted Thursday in the city's District Court on charges of preparing explosives. They are suspected of conspiring to detonate the bombs against Israeli security forces. Almost 100 Israeli-Arabs have been arrested for terrorist actions since the beginning of 2001
Following the recent release of a police report showing an increase in Israeli-Arab involvement in terrorism, Herut MK Michael Kleiner told the Knesset that most Israeli-Arabs are not loyal to the State of Israel:
"Those MKs and ministers who say [they are] are mistaken. It is generally accepted to think that only a minority of Arabs, those who are incited by Arab Mks, are hostile to Israel. But I say that not only is this false, but it is also dangerous, for it helps us sweep the Palestinian problem and the demographic problem under the carpet."
"Their goals are the same [as those Arabs who live in the PA]: a Palestinian state from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean, and later, east of the Jordan as well... Every day that passes without the government demanding loyalty to the state as a condition for citizenship, and without preparing to deal with the demographic problem by encouraging emigration to Arab nations - adds up to a national fiasco that will become a national catastrophe."
