Israeli, two bombers die in attack

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Then police officer Kobi Mor rushed to the scene, where he said he found the bomber on the sidewalk with his explosive belt visible.

“The minute I saw him move his hand toward the belt, I fired and his hand fell,” Mor told Channel 10 TV. “Two and a half minutes later he lifted his hand again, again toward the belt, and I knelt down and fired four bullets to the center of his head.”

Israeli TV stations repeatedly broadcast footage of the shooting, calling Mor the “hero of the day” and showing the would-be bomber as he lay on the sidewalk, slowly moving his hand toward his midsection. Police awarded Mor a certificate for bravery and gave him a promotion.

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Dr. Michael Sherf, director of Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba, said a total of nine people were wounded.

Israeli authorities had been on high alert since Hamas militants blew up large sections of the Gaza-Egypt border wall Jan. 23. The breach, aimed at easing an Israeli and Egyptian blockade of Gaza, allowed hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to cross into Egypt.

Egypt managed to reseal the border Sunday. Egyptian officials had no immediate comment on the Dimona bombing.

Egypt, Hamas exchange fire
Egyptian forces and Hamas police exchanged fire at the border Monday, and defiant Hamas leaders warned they would not permit Gaza’s only gate to the world to remain closed for long. One Palestinian was killed and at least 44 people — 38 Egyptians troops and six Gazans — were wounded in the worst outbreak of violence since Hamas militants first toppled the border wall.

Israel’s 150-mile border with Egypt is mostly unfenced, with few obstacles breaking the long stretch of Sinai desert. In contrast, a complex of fences separates Gaza from Israel.

Abu Fouad, a spokesman for the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, a violent Fatah offshoot, said the attackers sneaked into Egypt after the border breach, then crossed into Israel using “private contacts.” He also claimed the group had more militants inside Israel waiting to strike. The group said it was not under Abbas’ control.

Yellow Fatah flags flew outside the 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 a picture of her son as a young teenager, while male relatives scolded her for crying, saying she should be proud.

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

The bombing came at a critical juncture. Israeli and Palestinian negotiators relaunched peace talks after a seven-year break just two months ago, and Israel has made it clear it won’t implement any accord until Abbas, the moderate Palestinian president, disarms militant groups in the West Bank and Hamas-ruled Gaza.

Hamas violently took over Gaza last June, and Abbas wields no control in the impoverished coastal strip.

Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said the bombing would not interfere with peace efforts. “Talks will continue, and we will raise this issue of fighting terrorism with the Palestinians,” he said.

Abbas’ office denounced the attack — but linked the bombing to an Israeli raid in the West Bank that killed two Islamic Jihad militants early Monday.

Hamas spokesman Ayman Taha praised the bombing as a “glorious act.”

The last suicide bombing in Israel occurred on Jan. 29, 2007, when a Palestinian attacker entered Israel from Egypt, killing three Israelis in the southern city of Eilat.

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