Palestinians could use chemical components in suicide bombings
Palestine-Israel, Politics, 7/27/1998

Israel is worried that Islamic militants and other Palestinian opposition groups might resort to so-called "quiet attacks" on Israelis with the use of chemical and biological components as opposed to the conventional explosives used so far in suicide bombings.

Israeli security sources expressed fears that potential assailants might try to circulate biological or chemical materials at points in the center of the country, thereby harming a large number of people. The assumption was based on general information the Israeli General Security Services have obtained over the past few weeks and on studies prepared by a number of security experts and professionals. However, Israeli sources indicate that no specific intelligence information is available at the moment and that the whole issue is being reviewed in theoretical and not practical terms.

Intelligence experts have reportedly warned that the danger of biological or chemical attack is high, since such materials are accessible and because only a small amount needs to be secured to harm masses of people. The chances are very slim to arrest a potential assailant who tries to smuggle this sort of material from Gaza or the West Bank into Israel, experts said.

Last Sunday, a Palestinian man from Ramallah was severely wounded when a car he drove caught fire in West Jerusalem. Police then suspected the car was loaded with explosives or even chemical components since there were a number of plastic containers in the car. A police statement later said the man was a member of Hamas, the Islamic Resistance Movement but Hamas denied any involvement in the incident.

In an interview he gave to a Palestinian daily in Jerusalem Sunday, Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, the spiritual leader and founder of Hamas, said the movement had no relation to the incident. He even denied reports that the car was booby-trapped and insisted the man was a construction contractor heading to his work and was badly injured "simply in an accidental mishap."

Meanwhile, Israel has taken very strict measures to impose the closure on the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Entrances to Jerusalem, including sidewalks and rocky roads, have all been manned with Israeli soldiers to monitor the movements of cars that intend to infiltrate into Jerusalem without permits. Some side roads were blocked with sand and huge rocks making passage for vehicles impossible.

The measure, Israeli sources said, followed last Sunday's incident in which the car that was involved was found to have entered Jerusalem via those side roads and not through the usual Israeli army roadblocks.

Previous Stories:
  Bomber wasn't a bomber   (7/21/1998)
  Palestinians protest Israeli army slaying of Arab   (6/13/1998)
  Palestine to Israel: Clear your minefields   (5/22/1998)

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