A Palestinian gunman entered a packed events hall in the central town of Hadera during a bat-mitzvah celebration, opening fire with an M-16 rifle on the celebrants. At least six Israelis were killed and 30 wounded, several seriously. The terrorist belonged to the Al-Aqsa Martyr Brigades of Yasser Arafat's Fatah group. Celebrations were reported in West Bank cities.

The gunman, wearing a military coat and running into the two-story Palace of David hall with an M-16 rifle, shot at the approximately 180 people as they were sitting and dancing shortly before 11 p.m. For several seconds after the shooting, people kept dancing, unaware of the shots due to the loud music. But soon after, as the terrorist changed magazines or experienced a mechanical problem with his gun, guests struck him with bottles, cans and blows, subduing him and dragging him from the hall. Police detectives arrived from a nearby station and shot him dead. An unexploded grenade was found near his body.

The victims were: Aharon Ben Yisrael-Alis, 32, of Raanana; Dina Binayav, 48, of Ashkelon; Edward Bakshayav, 48, and Antoli Bakshayav, 63, of Or Akiva; Avi Yazadi, 25, of Hadera; Boris Melihov, 56, of Sderot.

Celebrations in the West Bank, warnings from Israel
The Al Aqsa Brigades, a branch of Arafat's Fatah organization, said the attack was carried out by 26-year-old Fatah member Abed al Salem Tsadek Hasson, from a village near the West Bank town of Nablus. His name was announced over loudspeakers in Tulkarm during celebrations that took place following the attack. The motive of the attack, according to the Al Aqsa Brigades, was revenge for the killing of terrorist leader Raed al-Karmi on Monday.

Internal Security Minister Uzi Landau, reacting to the attack, said, "This is war." Avi Pazner, a spokesman for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said that Israel "would teach the Palestinians a lesson they will not forget. We hold Arafat responsible." The security cabinet is expected to meet Friday morning in a special session.

Shortly after the attack, Israeli spokesman Raanan Gissin appeared on American television and also blamed Arafat. "We offered him the opportunity to bring them [Palestinian militants] to justice. He did nothing of the sort," Gissin said. "What is best for us is to arrest where he doesn't arrest, intercept where he doesn't intercept and stop them where he doesn't stop them, and that is exactly what we are going to do."

Later, Pazner took the warnings one step further. "Israel will not remain indifferent when our people are killed. ... We are going to respond in a manner which will teach the Palestinian Authority a lesson they will not forget," he said.

The U.S. State Department issued a statement shortly after the attack urging Arafat to take immediate action against those responsible. As leader of the Palestinian Authority, the Palestinian Liberation Organization and Fatah, Chairman Arafat must take immediate action against those responsible for these acts and confront the infrastructure that perpetuates terror and violence," the statement said.

Netanyahu speaks out, calls for Arafat's demise
In what some media analysts are calling a challenge to the diplomatic and security policies of Ariel Sharon, former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu spoke on Israel Radio earlier on Thursday calling for the overthrow of Arafat and said a Palestinian state must never be established. Just hours after the attack in Hadera, Netanyahu appeared on American television to reiterate his message.

"These terrorists are launched from Arafat's territories with his full acquiescence," Netanyahu said. "They bomb discothéques, they bomb nightclubs, they bomb pizzerias. Now they bomb a wedding hall where some kid is having a celebration. So they're deliberately targeting civilians."

"Nothing justifies terrorism and we will take uniform action against the terrorists and their sponsors. That, to me, means Yasser Arafat. And, as long as he's in power, we're not going to get any peace."

An independent state would prove a strategic threat to Israel, he said, citing the recent seizure of a Palestinian-chartered ship attempting to smuggle heavy arms into Palestinian-controlled territories. An independent state, he noted, could import arms freely: "With its own independent port, such a state would receive shiploads of arms, day and night, and we would find ourselves facing a terrorist state, armed to the teeth," he told Israel Radio.

Netanyahu linked Arafat's regime with al-Qaida. "I knew that Arafat's people met with bin Laden's people in Lebanon about a year before the World Trade Center horrors took place. … You've taken out the Taliban regime. I think we're going to have to take out Arafat's regime."

A key step, he said, was to topple Arafat's regime and drive him out. "The only way to stop the current Palestinian attacks on Israelis is to bring down the Palestinian Authority and its leader," Netanyahu said. Expelling Arafat "would make clear to any future Palestinian leadership that if you resort to terrorism, your fate will be like that of the Taliban and Arafat," Netanyahu said.

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