Two IDF soldiers, a man and a woman, were killed, another
soldier was seriously wounded, and at least eight civilians
were wounded -- two of them seriously -- when a Palestinian
suicide bomber blew himself up near the entrance to the
Binyamina railway station Monday evening.
It was the second bombing attack of the day, as two
terrorists earlier blew themselves up in Jerusalem,
apparently preparing a bomb to attack at the Maccabiah
athletic competitions.
The extremist Shi'ite Islamic Jihad organization claimed
responsibility for the attack via Hizbullah's Manar
television station, saying it was in retaliation for recent
Israeli eliminations of Palestinian terrorists, including
those belonging to Islamic Jihad.
In reaction, the IDF shelled Palestinian targets in Jenin
and Tulkarm.
Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said Israel would hit
back for all terror attacks. He also spoke about the earlier
explosion in Jerusalem. "A terrible tragedy was averted. Two
terrorists got confused and set off a bomb. You know where
they were heading," he said.
The Monday night suicide-murders were successful, despite
reinforced security measures and the presence of police and
security personnel at the entrance to the railway station.
Security sources said the attack could have been even worse
if the terrorist had not been deterred from entering the
station because of the police presence.
Binyamina station is a major railway junction for passengers
travelling from Nahariya, Haifa, and the bayside suburbs to
Tel Aviv and the South. Passengers change trains there, and
it has become a drop-off point for people living in the
region and especially the expanded township of nearby
Zichron Yaakov.
The railway lines run alongside the main road in Binyamina,
and the station is only a step away from homes in the
normally quiet backwater township.
The attack occurred shortly after 7:30 p.m., when the
bomber, with a large quantity of explosives strapped to his
body, walked up to a group of soldiers and civilians at a
hitchhiking point near the entrance to the railway
station.
Meir Solomon, a veteran volunteer driver and paramedic for
Magen David Adom, was the first to arrive at the scene.
"I had been driving past on the main road when I heard the
explosion. I turned around and drove about 100 meters back
to the scene," he said. "When I reached the scene I
immediately started to give reports to MDA and the police
about the situation. I saw that there was one person dead,
two critical, one moderate-to-serious, and three or four
suffering from light wounds and shock."
Police and sappers sealed off the area and searched for any
other explosive devices.
"There have been warnings for the past four days and we were
in readiness," said Binyamina local council head Arye
Zituni.
