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Israel Closes Gaza Crossing After Bombing

Posted on: Thursday, 15 January 2004, 06:00 CST

Israel shut down the Gaza Strip on Thursday, preventing thousands of Palestinians from reaching jobs, after a female suicide bomber killed four Israelis at a crossing into Israel.

The aftermath of the Wednesday attack meant further hardships for Palestinians. Residents of the impoverished Gaza Strip depend on jobs in Israel for much of their income Israel imposed a one-day closure of the crossing after the attack, turning workers away and shutting down the Erez industrial park where 6,000 Palestinians work.

The army said that only humanitarian cases would be qualify for crossing the border.

Brig. Gen. Gadi Shamni, the Israeli military commander in Gaza, indicated Israel would retaliate for the attack. "I imagine that we will know how to respond at the time, place and method of our choosing," he told Israel TV.

The attack was the first time that the Islamic militant group Hamas has sent a woman to carry out a suicide bombing. Hamas carried out the attack in cooperation with the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, linked to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia declined to condemn the bombing, saying that continued Israeli attacks and restrictions on the Palestinians are leading to "escalation on both sides."

That stance followed the Palestinian Authority's usual procedure of not criticizing suicide bombings that kill soldiers or settlers in the West Bank and Gaza. The Palestinians consider Israelis in occupied areas as legitimate targets. Wednesday's bombing was the first time Qureia - who took office in October and has since been trying in vain to arrange a halt to militant attacks - was placed in that situation.

The bomber, Reem Raiyshi, 22, mother of two small children, was escorted into a room at the Erez Crossing to be checked after telling soldiers she had a metal plate in her leg that set off the metal detector. Once inside, she blew herself up.

Thousands marched through the streets of Gaza during her funeral Thursday. Masked gunmen from both Hamas and Al Aqsa carried her coffin, draped in the Hamas green flag, the first time the rival groups marched together.

"It is not enough to call her a hero. Calling her hero does not give the whole truth. This woman abandoned her husband and children in order to win paradise," Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar said in eulogy.

Israel usually keeps the bodies of suicide bombers, burying them in unmarked graves to forestall celebratory funerals. The military did not say why it had decided to return Raiyshi's body to the Palestinians.

Three of those killed in the attack were Israeli immigrants from the former Soviet Union.

Border Police Staff Sgt. Vladimir Trostinsky, 22, moved to Israel with his mother and younger brother seven years ago, Israeli media reported. He had recently returned to a combat unit after an illness.

Cpl. Andrei Kegeles, 19, also in Israel for seven years, was drafted into the army four months ago. Speaking Russian, his father told Channel Two TV that Kegeles was expected home later Wednesday for a short leave. They said he had insisted on serving in a front-line army unit.

The other dead soldier was Staff Sgt. Tzur Or, 20, from Rishon Letzion, who was working to become an officer in the army. The security guard, Gal Shapira, 28, was an immigrant from Belarus who became an Israeli paratrooper and held a degree in math and computer science.

The army said four of the seven wounded in the attack were Palestinians.

There was widespread speculation that one of the Hamas goals in the attack was to channel anger against Israel by increasing hardships in Gaza. Late Wednesday, Palestinian militants fired two mortar rounds at the empty Erez industrial park, but they fell short.

Rami Mansour, 39, a Palestinian who works an Israeli-owned garage in the industrial zone, was angry that militant groups put his income in jeopardy.

"No one is supporting the (Israeli) occupation, but if you want to fight you have to think of others," he said.

About 15,000 Palestinian workers and another 4,000 merchants from Gaza have permits to cross the Erez checkpoint to reach jobs inside Israel. The number varies with the security situation.

Before violence erupted in 2000, about 100,000 Palestinians from Gaza worked in Israel, providing the main source of income for the poverty-stricken territory. Now many of their jobs are filled by foreign workers.

Three years of violence has severely depressed the Palestinian economy, with unemployment over 50 percent.

The Erez crossing is routinely closed after Palestinian terror attacks. After the midmorning Wednesday bombing, workers trying to enter Israel were turned back.

In a video made before the attack, Raiyshi wears the traditional hijab covering for women, holds an assault rifle and stands before two green Hamas flags.

"I always wanted to be the first woman to carry out a martyr attack, where parts of my body can fly all over. That is the only wish I can ask God for," she said with a smile.

Hamas spiritual leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin said the use of a woman bomber was unique for the Islamic group, but holy war "is an obligation of all Muslims, men and women."

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