Military

DATE=10/26/00

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

NUMBER=2-268475

TITLE=ISRAEL / PALESTINIANS (L)

BYLINE=ROSS DUNN

DATELINE=JERUSALEM

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: A militant Islamic group has claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing attack against an Israeli army outpost. Ross Dunn in Jerusalem reports this was first attack of its kind in nearly a month of Israeli-Palestinian clashes.

TEXT: A Palestinian man riding a bicycle detonated explosives at an Israeli army outpost in the Gaza Strip, killing himself and injuring one soldier. The assailant has been identified as a 24-year old janitor who worked at a kindergarten in Gaza City.

The attack took place between the Palestinian town of Khan Younis and the Jewish settlement of Kfar Darom.

In Beirut, the Islamic Jihad organization said in a statement it was responsible for the explosion and pledged more bombings.

Thursday marked the fifth anniversary of the assassination of the then-leader of the organization, Fathi Shqaqi. He is widely believed to have been killed by an Israeli government hit squad.

In the past six years, scores of Israelis have been killed by suicide bombings in buses, open-air markets, and pedestrian malls.

An Israeli army spoken says that the Palestinian Authority is to blame for the latest incident after giving the "green light" to terrorism by releasing dozens of Islamic militants from jail.

The suicide attack came as U-S President Bill Clinton attempted to bring Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to Washington for separate meetings. (Signed)

NEB/RD/KL/JWH