Arab Extremists Looking for a Bigger Payoff

Palestinian extremists are concentrating on so-called hard targets of strategic and economic value as suicide bombings against civilians have become more difficult to pull off, Israeli government officials say.

Recent examples of such targets include an attack this week on a fuel depot and plans recently unearthed to blow up a skyscraper in Tel Aviv.

“They’re putting more effort on these sorts of targets as they see more suicide bombers being intercepted,” said Raanan Gissin, spokesman for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. “Their infrastructure has been severely damaged, so they want to focus on one singular attack.”

Early Thursday, a disaster was narrowly averted when a bomb attached to the undercarriage of a diesel tanker truck went off in the fuel depot, near Tel Aviv. The explosion, detonated by remote control using a cell phone, caused a relatively small fire. Military officials say it was only a stroke of luck that nearby fuel barrels didn’t ignite, potentially killing many residents in the densely populated area.

The attack followed the recent disclosure by Israeli officials that they had found plans in the West Bank town of Tulkarm for an attack on Tel Aviv’s Azrieli towers, among the nation’s tallest buildings. The plans reportedly called for driving a vehicle loaded with 2,200 pounds of explosives into the structure’s basement parking lot.

Sharon told the parliament’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Monday that the army foiled a related plan to carry out a coordinated strike against seven Israeli coastal cities.

Government officials say several other factors have contributed to the Palestinians’ focus on strategic targets. The recent wave of Israeli military incursions, the erection of more checkpoints, and airstrikes on West Bank and Gaza Strip targets have put violence-prone groups on the defensive, they say, prompting militants to look for a “big win” to show that they’re still functioning.

Israeli officials also believe that competition among extremist groups such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade for leverage and political credibility as the Palestinian government prepares for elections is spurring similar pressures to distinguish themselves through high-profile attacks. Officials cited as an example rival projects to build rockets. On Friday, the army destroyed a workshop in Gaza City it said was making Kassam rockets.

Finally, Israeli officials claim some success in stopping suicide bombings and say the blasts are not creating as great a shock and global publicity as desired by the attackers, which has prompted militants to switch gears.

Three suicide attacks have occurred in the last two weeks, including Wednesday evening’s explosion in a park in Rishon Le Zion near Tel Aviv, which killed two Israelis and wounded three dozen. However, Israeli officials say attackers are getting caught more often; the military says it has intercepted nearly two dozen in the last three weeks.

Palestinian officials counter that a far different lesson should be drawn from recent events. While asserting that they don’t condone suicide bombers, the officials say the full brunt of Israel’s military machine still has not stopped the violent attacks. The only long-term hope for peace is a political solution, they say.

Israeli authorities, meanwhile, say the focus on more strategic targets requires the attackers to have greater coordination and more sophisticated intelligence. Unlike suicide bombings, which can be done by almost anyone without extensive planning, attacks against civic and economic targets call for more legwork and help from allies living inside Israel.

“A suicide bombing is a one-way mission,” Gissin said. “They don’t have to go back.”

In Thursday’s fuel depot attack, for instance, the bomb had to be attached to the underside of a truck, which then was driven in by remote control. Those responsible had to study the facility’s layout, identify security weaknesses, account for delivery schedules, plant the bomb and then get away, all without being discovered.

The government said it is investigating whether security lapses occurred.

In an indication that Tulkarm remains a focus of Israeli military attention, soldiers mounted another incursion into the town Friday. According to a military spokesman, troops drew heavy fire by gunmen positioned near the town’s refugee camp. Other details were not immediately available.