Free Republic

Ibrahim HamadSalah Sehadeh May 23, 2002: Miraculously, a mega attack averted.* Arab-Muslim "Palestinian" Hamas' 'Silwan cell,'* / Sheikh Ibrahim Hamad* *, under commander Salah Shehadeh, via a remore control, attacks Pi Glilot fuel depot, nearby a heavily populated area in Tel-Aviv,* Israel. It could have killed over ten thousand people.* *

<p>Let's imagine that Hizbollah's stated policy of "mega-terrorism" bears fruit, and a second Pi Glilot attack succeeds. Alertness and sharpened contingency plans mean that the blast and oil-fed fires kill fewer Israelis than expected, and "only" 2,500 die. Two weeks later, Hamas' new strategic direction bears fruit and they manage chemical attacks at several points in and around Tel Aviv. A couple thousand people are hospitalized, a couple hundred die. The total for both attacks is now 3,000 dead and 6,000 injured, many severely.</p>

A terrorist attack potentially as destructive as September 11 was averted Thursday when an explosive device destroyed the cabin of a fuel truck as it was being filled with diesel at Israel's largest fuel depot, Pi Glilot, in Herzliya. Firemen on site managed to extinguish the fire within minutes, but the target was clearly the flammable fuels stored at the facility. Later, police sappers discovered a second bomb that failed to explode attached to the vehicle's chassis. Apparently detonated by a cellular phone, the bombs were intended to cause the explosive destruction of the entire depot, killing anyone in the...