Lull in violence ends

last updated 8 January 2015

Beersheba, Israel

Hamas suicide bombers blew up two buses in the Israeli town of Beersheba this week, killing at least 15 people, in the first such attacks in five months. Hamas, a radical Palestinian group responsible for numerous acts of terrorism, said the bombings were in retaliation for the Israeli assassination this year of the group’s spiritual leader, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, and his successor, Abdel Aziz Rantisi. Hamas promised further retaliation. An Israeli government official said the attacks were intended to sabotage Israel’s plans to unilaterally withdraw from the Gaza Strip. Right-wing parties in the government coalition oppose the pullout, saying it would “reward Palestinian terrorism.”