Intifada targets U.S. diplomats

The FBI is investigating a massive roadside bomb that demolished a U.S. armored jeep traveling in the Gaza Strip, killing three Americans in the first fatal attack on U.S. diplomats since the beginning of the three-year Palestinian intifada.

A convoy of three American diplomatic vehicles and its Palestinian police escort was driving past a gas station on the outskirts of the town of Beit Lahiya when an apparent remote-controlled bomb estimated to have contained 75 kilograms of explosives was detonated.

An Associated Press reporter saw a gray wire with an on-off
switch leading from the scene of the attack to a small concrete room at the side of the road.

Israeli military sources have not confirmed the cause of the explosion.

A State Department spokesperson said an explosive device planted in advance destroyed the second vehicle in the convoy.

Witnesses reported the powerful blast demolished a silver Jeep Cherokee, spewing twisted wreckage some thirty meters beyond the crater created at the point of impact and littering the nearby pavement with human remains.

Mohammed Radwan, a Palestinian taxi driver, said he was at the gas station when the blast went off.

"I was about to fill up my car with gas when I saw the American convoy passing," Radwan told the Jerusalem Post. "There was a Palestinian police car in front and then three big [U.S.] cars. When the third one passed, an explosion went off. The first two cars drove quickly and stopped far from the explosion. Palestinian security people jumped out of the car and rushed to the car that had blown up. When I tried to approach them, they shouted at me to leave. I saw two people covered with blood lying next to the car."

The victims were security guards hired from a private company. Names are being withheld pending notification of family.

The Jerusalem Post reports an angry mob of some 200 Palestinians gathered at the scene chanting "Allahu Akbar," or "God is great." When American security officials arrived to investigate, they were driven back into their cars by a handful of Palestinian youths who pelted them with rocks.

Fox News reports Palestinian police fired into the crowd, injuring some of the stone-throwing youths, as the U.S. cars sped away.

The Israeli military subsequently sent tanks and armored vehicles under cover of a helicopter gunship to assist the evacuation of the bodies and one wounded man.

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Kurtzer told reporters the FBI was sending a team to investigate.

Meanwhile, the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv advised all Americans to leave Gaza.

"Our sympathies go out to these brave men and their families," said State
Department spokeswoman Brooke Summers. "The United States will pursue the perpetrators until they are caught and brought to justice."

The U.S. diplomats targeted were en route to discuss the awarding of Fulbright scholarships to Gaza Palestinians, according to the Israeli daily Haaretz.

This marks the first fatal attack on American diplomats. Three months ago, a roadside bomb was detonated near a U.S. convoy but produced no injuries, according to Israel Radio.

Israeli officials said the attack underscores the need for the dismantling of Palestinian terror groups, a key requirement of the U.S-led "road map" to peace.

"The Palestinian terror organizations continue to strike indiscriminately, even at those who are working to try and bring peace to the
region," Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom told U.S.
Ambassador to Israel Dan Kurtzer. "The Palestinian Authority is doing nothing to dismantle the terror infrastructure and continues to give refuge to extremist organizations."

Both the Islamic Jihad and Hamas terror organizations denied responsibility for the attack.

"We strongly condemn this incident regardless of who is behind it and we express deep regret over the killing and injury," Palestinian Prime
Minister Ahmed Quriea told reporters. "We will carry out the necessary investigation from our side and will follow up the issue."

Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat condemned the bombing as an "awlful crime" and also ordered an investigation.

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