Israeli defense minister Shaul Mofaz pointed Wednesday at Hamas headquarters in Syria as being directly responsible for the Be’er Sheva double bombing.
Mofaz said that ‘a large portion of the “terrorism†in the territories comes from Hamas headquarters in Damascus and Hezbollah in Lebanon. You cannot separate what happened in Be’er Sheva from what is going on in Lebanon.’
At the same time, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon also blamed the Be’er Sheva bombing on Hamas headquarters in Damascus.
Israeli Government sources later claimed that Hamas’s political bureau member Moussa Abu Marzook, currently residing in Damascus and wanted by the United States, as the individual behind the bombings.
Earlier, Israeli Army Chief of Staff Moshe Ya’alon warned that Israel would ‘take care of those who support terror,’ pointing at the Palestinian Authority, Syria and Hezbollah.
‘We will take care of those who support terror,’ Ya’alon told a meeting of the Knesset House Committee. ‘That is those in the Palestinian Authority, the Hezbollah organization in Lebanon, in the “terrorist†command in Damascus, which operate with Syrian approval and those who provide funding and weapons to “terrorist†organizations.’
The warnings came one day after the double bombing attack in Be’er Shiva that took the lives of 16 Israelis.
Following October 2003 bombing attack in a Haifa restaurant, Israel Air Force warplanes struck targets close to Damascus. Israel at the time blamed Syria for supporting the organization that carried out the attack, namely Islamic Jihad.
A senior military official said Tuesday that Syria continue to provide logistics and financial backing to Palestinian militant groups.
‘It is not the PR departments of these organizations sitting in Damascus. It is their operational commands.’ a high military source told Haaretz.
As well, Israeli security sources accused Monday the Lebanese based Hezbollah party with relation to the bombing attempt that was foiled at the Gaza Strip Erez military check post.
Following the Be’er Sheva double bombing, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz decided in a Tuesday night meeting with top security officials, security officials to launch a military offensive in the West Bank city of Hebron. The two Hamas operatives who carried out the double buses bombings in Be’er Sheva
Following the attack, Hebron was placed under closure, 12 residents were arrested overnight, and soldiers raided the homes of the attackers. The two homes are likely to be demolished today.
Israeli Security forces bolstered security along the area between the southern Hebron Hills and the Negev, the area which attackers likely used to arrive to Be’er Sheva
