No – seriously happy Passover -
http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/meast/03/27/mideast/index.html
Terror attack kills at least 15 in Israeli hotel
March 27, 2002 Posted: 3:01 PM EST (2001 GMT)
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NETANYA, Israel (CNN) -- A suicide bomber killed at least 15 people and injured at least 90 on Wednesday at a Passover gathering in the Park Hotel in the coastal city of Netanya, Israel, police said. Fifteen people were listed in critical condition.
Israeli government spokesman Gideon Meir called the attack a "massacre" and said the government would respond in self-defense.
Hamas, a Palestinian Islamic fundamentalist group labeled as a terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department, claimed responsibility for the bombing. The bomber, who was killed, was from Gaza, Palestinian sources there said.
The suicide bomber slipped past an armed guard at an entrance to the hotel, said Gil Kleiman, Israeli police spokesman.
"At about 7:15 a suicide bomber entered the hotel, crossed the lobby and entered into the dining area where the Passover festivities were taking place," Kleiman said. "A large explosion occurred."
Kleiman said a search of other hotels was ordered to locate any possible bombs.
"Nothing can prevent -- 100 percent -- a suicide bomber who's intent on blowing himself up and killing people," he said.
Israeli police had been on high alert because of the Passover holiday.
Israeli television broadcast video showing a building with its walls blown out and stunned people being escorted from the scene by emergency workers.
Victims were carried away on gurneys and police had barricaded the scene of the blast.
Netanya is north of Tel Aviv and is only a few miles from the West Bank.
Netanya was the scene of an attack on March 9 when a suicide bomber killed two people including a baby girl and wounded at least 35 others.
The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a military wing of Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, claimed responsibility for the March 9 attack and another the same day in Jerusalem.
Wednesday's bombing came amid intense international efforts to lay the groundwork for a cease-fire. U.S. Middle East envoy Anthony Zinni was in Israel Wednesday pushing for the implementation of a plan calling for a cease-fire and a resumption of negotiations, and Saudi Arabia officially unveiled a peace proposal at the Arab League summit in Beirut, Lebanon. (Full story)
However, despite a call issued by Palestinian leaders last week for an end to terror attacks inside Israel, suicide bombings by Palestinian groups have continued unabated.
Earlier Wednesday, Israeli forces killed two armed Palestinians in Gaza after being attacked in two separate incidents during an overnight operation, the Israel Defense Forces said.
The IDF said troops were responding to an alert in the area of Kibbutz Kissufim.
Two Israeli soldiers were injured in one of the attacks, in which Palestinians threw a hand grenade and opened fire, the IDF said.
Two international observers were killed and one was slightly wounded Tuesday when a Palestinian opened fire on their car in the West Bank, the Israeli army said.
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