Bomb horror hits Tel Aviv disco

By David Rudge

TEL AVIV (June 4) - Twenty Israelis were killed and over 90 others were wounded when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a crowd of mostly teenagers waiting in line outside a disco near Tel Aviv's Dolphinarium along the seafront promenade just before midnight on Friday.

All but one of those killed, who included two sisters aged 15 and 18, were youngsters from the former Soviet Union who had planned to attend a dance party at the Dolphin disco.

Others who had been waiting in line to enter an adjacent nightclub known as the Pacha were also caught in the blast.

The bomber, apparently unnoticed in the crush of teenagers, wormed his way into the heart of the crowd and detonated the explosive device which was apparently strapped around his body.

Five of those killed and six of the wounded, including those in serious condition, were from the Shevah Lemofet High School in south Tel Aviv.

Parents and children gathered at the school yesterday following the attack. Education Minister Limor Livnat announced that matriculation exams would be deferred for those students whose classmates were killed or wounded.

The Islamic Jihad originally claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing, which was greeted with jubilation in Ramallah and parts of Gaza, where people danced in the streets and fired guns in the air.

Another group, calling itself Hizbullah-Palestine, also said it was behind the attack, but both claims were later retracted. Islamic Jihad leaders in the territories said they did not know who carried out the bombing, but both they and Hamas leaders praised what they described as a legitimate act.

Hizbullah was one of the first to announce the murderous incident on its Manar television station, with broadcasting also heaping praise on the "holy martyr" who blew himself up with such deadly effect.

Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, Hizbullah's leader, reportedly phoned Islamic Jihad leaders in the territories afterwards to offer his personal congratulations over the successful blow against the "Zionist enemy."

Among the wounded victims were two who were still in critical condition last night. Another six were reported to be seriously hurt and six were described as being in moderate condition, with the remainder lightly hurt.

Of the wounded taken to Ichilov, Beilinson, Wolfson and Sheba hospitals, 60 were still being treated last night. The remainder, who suffered light wounds or shock, were released after treatment.

Tel Aviv police chief Cmdr. Yossi Sedbon said the explosive device carried by the suicide bomber was not particularly large, but it had been filled with screws, nails, and ball bearings to make it as deadly as possible.

A court-imposed publicity ban went into effect shortly after the incident. The ban relates to all details of the police inquiry into the case, including the type of device and the identity of the attacker.

The attack, which some Israeli politicians described as a massacre of innocents, occurred shortly after 11:30 p.m. It was the worst single terrorist attack since the outbreak of the so-called Aksa intifada over eight months ago.

Crowds of people, mainly teenagers, had gathered outside the entrances to the two clubs due to open their doors shortly before midnight.

The bodies of those killed, all but two of them teenagers and the youngest just 14, were later taken to the L. Greenberg Institute for Forensic Medicine at Abu Kabir, where families yesterday gathered to identify their loved ones after failing to find them among the wounded in the hospitals.

During the day foreign diplomats, including visiting German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, visited the scene of the attack and laid flowers or wreaths at the scene.

Partial list of the victims: