Mideast Terror Ratchets Up A Notch

Israeli helicopters attacked two suspected Hamas weapons workshops in Gaza City early Monday and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon called off a summit with his Palestinian counterpart — a first response to a double suicide bombing that killed 10 Israelis in a heavily guarded Israeli seaport.

Israel plans to target and kill the leaders of Palestinian militant groups, reports CBS News Correspondent Robert Berger, in response to the bombing at the port of Ashdod, one of the country's most strategic facilities. Israeli officials say the time of the hits will depend on intelligence: knowing where these leaders are, and when they'll be there.

The attack sent Israeli officials scrambling to discover security breaches. They say the Palestinians adopted a tactic of al Qaeda by hitting a strategic target like a port.

"The goal is to cripple and in fact destroy the economic capacity of the country that's being targeted," government spokesman Dore Gold told Berger.

Palestinian militant groups are gloating over the attack, saying it shows that no place in Israel is safe — including its most heavily guarded and strategic facilities.

The Islamic militant group Hamas and the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, a group with ties to Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, claimed joint responsibility.

One Al Aqsa leader in Gaza, who identified himself only as Abu Qusay, told AP in a telephone interview that "this is a message to the Israelis that all their walls and fences cannot prevent us from infiltrating Israel and doing whatever we want."

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia condemned Sunday's suicide attacks in Ashdod, as scores of Palestinians took to the streets in the Jenin and Jabalya refugee camps to celebrate the attacks.

Palestinian officials said the Fatah group's growing involvement in suicide attacks is a source of major concern for the leadership.

"People are asking themselves, if we can't control our own men, how can we be expected to rein in Hamas and other groups," one Palestinian Authority official told the Jerusalem Post.

The bombers, 17-year-old high school students from a Gaza refugee camp, managed to slip into Israel despite a heavily patrolled fence ringing the strip; one of their handlers said he believed they crawled through a tunnel. The assailants also evaded tight security at the port and used high-grade plastic explosives.

A militant leader in Gaza told The Associated Press the bombers had intended to blow up fuel storage tanks in Ashdod, heightening Israeli concerns that militants are trying to carry out a "mega attack" with hundreds of casualties. However, the explosions went off several hundred meters from the fuel tanks.

The intended target, the use of plastic explosives, the cooperation between militant groups and the fact that Palestinian bombers managed to slip out of Gaza for the first time since 2000 were all seen as signals of escalation in tactics.

Abu Qusay said the militant groups were trying to carry out more devastating attacks. "We planned this attack to be a major one, to target their infrastructure, to show them that not only can we kill you, but destroy your infrastructure as well, like you destroy ours," he said.

So far, more than 100 Palestinian suicide bombings since 2000 have targeted Israeli malls, cafes and buses, but no single attack has claimed more than 30 lives.

Palestinian militants in Gaza have been stepping up attacks in recent weeks, in response to Sharon's proposal to withdraw from all or most of Gaza if peace talks with the Palestinians remain frozen. The militants want to claim victory by creating the impression that they are driving Israel out of Gaza.

Israel has also escalated its military activity in Gaza, for fear that a withdrawal could be perceived as a sign of weakness.

In a first response to the bombing, Sharon canceled a summit, tentatively set for Tuesday, with his Palestinian counterpart, Ahmed Qureia.

Early Monday, Israeli helicopters fired missiles at two suspected Hamas weapons workshops in Gaza City, causing some damage, but no injuries. Sharon was awaiting the return of Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz from a U.S. trip later Tuesday before deciding on possible larger-scale strikes, a security official said.

Israel closed the Erez crossing, barring some 19,000 Gaza workers from jobs in Israel. Police also stepped up security at all Israeli seaports, airports and train stations. Amos Ron, director of Israel's Ports Authority, said bombing-sniffing dogs would begin patrolling Ashdod port in the coming days.

"Severe security lapse at the port," read a banner headline Monday in the Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot.

Palestinian militants, meanwhile, fired an anti-tank missile at an armored bus carrying Israeli settlers in Gaza early Monday, the army said. The missile tore through the bus, causing heavy damage, but no one was hurt, the army said.

Sunday's bombing was the fourth attack carried out jointly by Al Aqsa and Hamas in recent weeks.

Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat condemned Sunday's attack on behalf of the Palestinian Authority and expressed regret that Israel canceled the summit.

Until Sunday, all Palestinian bombers since 2000 came from the West Bank, which has a much more porous border with Israel. Israel is building a long and expensive barrier in the West Bank ostensibly aimed at stopping attackers, but Palestinians object to the planned route, which cuts deep into territory they claim for a future state.

The Palestinian groups that sent the two teenage bombers say they crawled through a tunnel under the fence. Berger reports that has Israeli officials worried the fence may be ineffective. Militant groups say the Ashdod port bombing shows that fences won't protect Israel.