Middle East Sees Bloodiest Day in Recent Escalations
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: The morning is almost breaking in the Middle East now, a day after some of the worst violence since September. Thursday was bloody and brutal, and many are worried now the escalation could make a dire situation desperate. The killing began at midday in the town of Netanya after a Palestinian man blew himself up outside a shopping mall. As CNN's Sheila MacVicar now reports, Israel responded with force and speed.</s>SHEILA MACVICAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The reprisals came quickly. Israeli warplanes, never used before in this conflict, fired missiles into a Palestinian police post adjoining a prison in the West Bank city of Nablus. Trapped under the rubble, at least eight dead; all of them Palestinian is policemen, and 46 wounded. Minutes later, Israeli F-16 jets struck again, at the headquarters of a Palestinian security organization in Ramallah. As darkness fell, there were more raids: missile strikes in Gaza and helicopter attacks in the West Bank. The Israelis are going after the Palestinian security forces, targeting the infrastructure of the Palestinian national authority. (on camera): This is meant to be a very tough message from Israel; a message to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to stop the violence, stop the suicide bombers or risk an even greater escalation and ultimately, the destruction of his security forces. (voice-over): Friday's violence began in the Israeli coastal city of Netanya. In front of this mall, crowded with morning shoppers, a security guard noticed someone acting suspiciously, called police, and as the police arrived, the Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up and killed at least five others. "I saw a pregnant woman with her arm blown off," says this eyewitness. "I saw one man without legs, and a baby covered in blood." Six bombs have been found in Netanya in five months; three exploded. In Netanya, people are scared and angry and baying for blood. "Revenge, revenge," they shouted. The Netanya bomber, a 21-year-old Palestinian, came from the West Bank town of Tulkarem. His family said he left home this morning, saying he had something important to do. The bomber was a member of the extremist group Hamas. They paraded through the town streets today, celebrating, asking, "Have you heard the news?" Hamas says it has more suicide bombers ready to bring more death to Israelis; their bid, they say, to end the occupation. Israelis are telling Yasser Arafat that they hold him responsible. He has to end the violence, they say, in this conflict that now looks more and more like a war. Sheila MacVicar, CNN, Jerusalem.</s>HEMMER: Also, the secretary of state, Colin Powell, spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon today. Sources say Powell came away from the call frustrated. President Bush is calling on all sides to renounce the violence.</s>GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It is essential that the leaders in the Middle East speak out clearly against violence. We must break the cycle of violence in order to begin meaningful discussions about any kind of political settlement.