Israel had withdrawn its forces from Jenin as a "goodwill gesture" to accompany the arrival of newly appointed U.S. mediator Anthony Zinni. Within hours of that withdrawal, gunmen attacked Israeli civilians in Afula, killing two and wounding more than ten. St.-Sgt. Yaron Pikholtz, 20, was killed and another soldier wounded in a drive-by shooting in the area. The bombing, carried out by a terrorist who boarded a bus near the Israeli Arab town of Umm el Fahm, brought what one military source called the "Zinni death toll" to seven.

In the Thursday evening bombing attack, a well-dressed Arab with a mustache bid farewell to two accomplices and boarded the bus bound from Tel Aviv to Nazareth, then detonated the charge in his briefcase as the bus passed near a gas station adjacent to an army base near the Hadera junction. Because the bus had relatively few passengers, only three Israelis were killed, including Inbal Weiss, 22, and Yehiav Alshad, 28, and nine others were lightly wounded.

Credit for the attack was later claimed by Arafat's Fatah faction and by Islamic Jihad, the second such "joint operation." The two groups also reported cooperating in the attack on Afula earlier in the week.

The Palestinian Authority issued a statement condemning the attack, as they had on the previous occasion. "The Palestinian leadership condemns the attack on Israeli civilians, and the Authority reaffirms that it is working in its full capacity to put an end to attacks against Israeli civilians." PA security agencies have been instructed to "chase the perpetrators" of the attack, "and bring them to justice," a PA spokesman said.

Veteran Arab affairs commentator Ehud Yaari, appearing on Channel Two television, described the Palestinian Authority's tactic as "maka u matan" a variation on the Hebrew expression for negotiations ("give and take") which could be translated as "give and hit." He said that Arafat has decided for diplomatic reasons to automatically condemn attacks while doing little if anything to stop attacks. The Palestinian strategy may also have been influenced by an apparent softening of the position of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who said that the seven days of quiet he was demanding from the Palestinians need not be absolute as long as the Palestinian Authority was making "one hundred percent effort."

In response to the bus bombing, IDF forces were ordered back into positions around the northernmost Palestinian town that has earned the nickname of "suicide city" due to the large number of bombers that have come from that town. "We are on the outskirts of Jenin," a security source told Ha'aretz, "which includes an area under Palestinian control. Near Nablus we are outside the city but not in Area A."

Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said that the army did not intend to enter Palestinian towns and cities, as it did after the assassination of Israeli minister Rechavam Ze'evi. "We don't have an interest in entering Area A, but I can tell you we won't sit quietly. And we will strike at anyone who strikes at us," he told Channel Two.

In a separate interview, Ben-Eliezer also revealed that he had been the object of a planned assassination attempt that was foiled by Israeli security forces. Ben-Eliezer refused to reveal any further details, but told Channel Two's Dan Shilon, "No one thought for a minute that I would be exempt from harm." He added, "As defense minister, I top the list of targets of our 'friends.' I am not afraid, but I have become a fatalist."

Army Radio quoted security sources as saying that the planned attack on the Defense Minister was to have been carried out at the entrance to Israeli army headquarters in Tel Aviv.

Other Israeli ministers have also threatened by attacks from Palestinian terrorists, and some temporarily moved from their homes in response. The IDF recently instructed officers to maintain a low profile.

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