ISRAEL: Two Palestinian suicide bombers blew themselves up yesterday afternoon at Israel's southern port of Ashdod, killing 10 people.
It was a rare attack inside a strategic installation, and prompting the Prime Minister, Mr Ariel Sharon, to cancel a long-awaited meeting planned for tomorrow with his Palestinian counterpart, Mr Ahmed Korei.
In the aftermath of the assault, in which 15 people were also injured, security officials suggested that the bombers had planned to carry out what they called a "mega-attack". The bombers, they speculated, might have been trying to hit a nearby power station or refinery.
One of the bombers, however, blew himself up on the port's perimeter fence, and the second in an office block inside the fence. Both were killed.
"They found a weak point, and they exploited it," said Infrastructures Minister Mr Yosef Paritzky. "A port, by nature, is a very busy place. There are many people coming and going. It is impossible to seal the entire country hermetically."
However, questions were already being asked last night in Israel as to how such a sensitive facility had been breached.
Just under two years ago, a small explosive device attached to a tanker truck blew up at a huge fuel depot just north of Tel Aviv, but failed to ignite a larger explosion and caused only minor damage. At the time, security officials also said that Palestinian militants had tried to strike at a strategic target in a bid to cause widespread casualties.
Two groups, Hamas and the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, which is linked to Mr Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, claimed joint responsibility for the twin bombings, which was the first attack by Palestinians inside Israel to emanate from Gaza since the start of the intifada in September 2000.
One Al Aqsa leader in Gaza said the attack was meant to prove that "we can reach any place in Israel, even the heavily-protected places, such as a port or airport".
Both bombers were identified as residents of the Jabalya refugee camp in Gaza, which is surrounded by a fence and is heavily patrolled, making it difficult for militants to breach the border.
The two men were identified as Nabil Massoud and Mohammed Salem, 17-year-old classmates at a high school in the camp.
In a statement, the groups said the double suicide strike was in response to the killing of Palestinian militants. Last week, Israeli troops raided two refugee camps in Gaza, killing 15 people, most of them gunmen, but also several civilians.
"I heard a loud explosion and ran towards the scene," said Mr Yehuda Huaron, who works in an office at the port. "I saw horrific things on the street, body parts ... I saw someone running to help. His father works here, and he couldn't stop crying. He didn't know what happened to his father. "We were trying to help with the first blast, and then people were yelling that they needed our help at the site of the second explosion."
In the aftermath of the attack, Mr Sharon also called off more contacts that were to take place today to prepare for his summit with Mr Korei, which would have been the first since the Palestinian Prime Minister took office five months ago.
"We are not looking for a photo-opportunity. We want a real undertaking from the Palestinians to crack down on terrorism," said Mr Raanan Gissin, a spokesman for the Israel leader.
The Palestinian Authority condemned the attack, but also called on Israel to commit to a ceasefire "to break the cycle of violence" and to implement the US-backed road map peace plan.
Earlier yesterday, Israeli troops shot dead three Palestinians in Gaza who the army said were planting explosives near the border fence with Israel.