A Look at Islamic Jihad /&/ Suicide Bombings Since Truce -/- AP 2-fer

Islamic Jihad, a virulently anti-Israel group backed by Iran and Syria, claimed responsibility for Monday's suicide attack in Tel Aviv, the deadliest Palestinian attack in 20 months.

The group has been behind most of the Palestinian attacks against Israel since the sides declared a truce in February 2005. It says the violence is a legitimate response to an Israeli crackdown on its members.

Islamic Jihad has claimed responsibility for eight of nine suicide attacks in Israel and the West Bank since the cease-fire declaration, and its militants in Gaza continue to fire homemade rockets at Israel on a daily basis.

The group is believed to have about 2,000 militants armed with M-16 and AK-47 automatic rifles, grenades and anti-tank weapons.

Last month, it claimed responsibility for firing a long-range Katyusha rocket into Israel. The attack, which caused no damage or injuries, marked a significant increase in its abilities.

Islamic Jihad is led by Ramadan Shallah, a Palestinian from Gaza who now lives in exile in Syria. It considers the 1979 Iranian Revolution to be the beginning of a new era for the Muslim world and wants to turn all of Israel, the West Bank and Gaza into an Islamic state. It rules out compromise with Israel.

Shallah, visiting Iran this week, said his group would step up its efforts to attack Israel with suicide bombers and rockets.

Suicide Bombings Since Truce

Palestinian militants have carried out nine suicide attacks in Israel and the West Bank since a Feb. 8, 2005, truce declaration. All but one attack have been carried out by Islamic Jihad, a violent group with close ties to Iran:

• April 17, 2006: A bomber blows himself up at a Tel Aviv restaurant targeted previously, killing eight other people.

• March 30, 2006: A bomber disguised as a Jewish hitchhiker blows himself up in a car outside a West Bank settlement, killing four Israelis who stopped to pick him up. The Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a violent offshoot of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah Party, claims responsibility.

• Jan. 19, 2006: A bomber disguised as a peddler blows himself up at a Tel Aviv felafel restaurant, wounding 20 people.

• Dec. 29, 2005: A bomber explodes at an Israeli army checkpoint in the West Bank, killing an Israeli soldier and two Palestinians.

• Dec. 5, 2005: A bomber blows himself up at a shopping mall in the coastal town of Netanya, killing five.

• Oct. 26, 2005: A bomber blows himself up in Hadera at a food stand, killing five.

• Aug. 28, 2005: A bomber blows himself up in the southern city of Beersheba, killing only himself.

• July 12, 2005: A bomber blows himself up outside a shopping mall in Netanya, killing five.

• Feb. 25, 2005: In the first attack after a truce is declared, a bomber blows himself up near a Tel Aviv nightclub, killing four.

Israeli police inspect the site after an explosion near a fast food restaurant in Tel Aviv Monday, April 17, 2006. A Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up near the restaurant in a bustling commercial area of Tel Aviv during the Jewish holiday of Passover on Monday, killing six people and wounding at least 35 others, including several seriously, police and medics said. Media reports said the Islamic Jihad militant group claimed responsibility for Monday's attack, which came a day after the group pledged to carry out more such attacks.(AP Photo/Oded Karni)

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