"We are facing waves of suicide bombers, men and women, and believe me that when I say waves I know what I'm talking about," Ben-Eliezer said.
His comments came just hours after Palestinian terrorists narrowly failed to blow up the giant facility.

The Ramat Hasharon local council ordered the site closed yesterday afternoon, on the grounds that it was operating without a business license and operations, which had been halted for a few hours and then resumed after the attack, ceased again.
A tanker carrying diesel fuel was set ablaze by a bomb planted on its underside, apparently detonated by remote control. However, the facility's sprinkler system, safety officials, and drivers extinguished the fire.

Security officials said that had they failed, tens of thousands could have been killed. The explosion could have set off a chain reaction, igniting both the petroleum and gas depots. The resulting fireball would have caused total destruction within a 600-meter radius. Pi Glilot virtually abuts one of the busiest highway junctions in the country. People at the nearby country club and in apartments at the northern tip of Tel Aviv's Ramat Aviv Gimel neighborhood also would also have been victimized by the blast.

The attack demonstrated the vulnerability of supposedly secure high-risk facilities, and the fact that terrorist organizations are now moving beyond suicide bombings into strategic strikes aimed at disrupting the country and even precipitating a regional war.

For several weeks, security sources have been talking about attempts by Palestinian terrorist organizations, led by Fatah, to carry out a showpiece attack of massive proportion.
Last week, IDF raids in Tulkarm uncovered a plot to use a ton of explosives to blow up a skyscraper, such as the Azrieli Towers in Tel Aviv, and plans to carry out seven simultaneous attacks along the Mediterranean coast.

The scenario almost came to fruition in yesterday morning's attack, which appears to have been prepared and planned with a great deal of prior intelligence.

Security officials said there had been no prior warning of a potential attack at Pi Glilot.
A bomb planted under a tanker was detonated after the vehicle had entered the facility, while it and eight others were being filled. The bomb escaped detection when the tanker entered the installation, and was detonated at precisely the time when the perpetrators assumed it would have the most effect.

Fortunately, firefighters were quickly able to extinguish the resulting blaze, primarily because the tanker was being loaded with diesel fuel and not more flammable gasoline.

Police believe the bomb was attached while the tanker was parked on Wednesday night in an unattended parking lot in Holon, and that it was detonated by remote control by a terrorist squad who monitored its entrance into the facility.
In fact, one driver claimed he had reported to police that somebody appeared to be photographing the site yesterday morning, and he later concluded it might have been the terrorist.

The truck driver, Yitzhak Ginsburg of Holon, was on top of his vehicle supervising the loading process when the bomb, apparently planted between the cab of the truck and tanker section, went off. The remains of a mobile phone were found at the scene.

The bomb ruptured the just-filled tanker and the flames swept through the cab, where Ginsburg would normally have been sitting.

"I was at the filling point and was in the process of filling when there was suddenly a terrific explosion," truck driver Amir Nissim told reporters. "At the same time, a fire broke out and all the diesel fuel in the tanker began to spill out and caught fire... We took our extinguishers and put out the fire to avert an even worse disaster."

"Fortunately, this was diesel," Tel Aviv police chief Cmdr. Yossi Sedbon told reporters, "and that coupled with the speedy action of the firemen succeeded in preventing very serious damage."
It was also fortunate that the attack occurred at the petroleum filling station, away from the much more potentially dangerous gas depot. The latter has been the subject of discussion over its relocation to a more secure site or burying it under concrete and earth to improve security.
Sedbon said it would be safer to move the gas depot so that it no longer threatens the immediate environment.

"We sincerely hope that the lessons drawn from this incident will assist in minimizing such a danger in the future," he said.

PI Glilot deputy manager Shlomi Sarig said security at the site had been intensified in line with recommendations of the security services.
"In this case, the bomb was not discovered, despite the increased security measures, and we have given our opinion on how we can prevent such incidents and improve security," he told reporters.

Deputy National Infrastructure Minister Naomi Blumenthal held an emergency meeting at the site yesterday afternoon with all the relevant bodies, and it was agreed to further increase security measures, including the installation of an X-ray device at the entrance to the facility.

Blumenthal stressed that work is in progress to minimize the risk from the gas storage facility by reducing the amount of gas stored there.

Nevertheless, the arguments over the continued use of the site because of its close proximity to residential areas and the main road intersection continued last night, without any decisions being taken over a permanent relocation.

Business sources said it is unlikely that such an important facility will remain closed for long, and they expect it to be back in full operation in the very near future.