Israelis quiz suspected women suicide bombers

Two female Palestinian university students, suspected of planning to carry out a twin suicide bombing in Tel Aviv, have surrendered to the Israeli army.

The women, Adilah and Lina Jawabre, both 21, turned themselves in after relatives told them the army was looking for them.

Family members said both women denied involvement in planning an attack and said they surrendered because they have nothing to hide. However, military officials said the women confessed they planned to carry out an attack.

Adilah and Lina are distant relatives and childhood friends. They grew up in the same village, went to the same school, and now both are studying education at the Al Najah University in the West Bank town of Nablus.

Military officials said the women were recruited by the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a militant PLO faction, to carry out a double suicide bombing in Tel Aviv last week.

The military said the mastermind was DFLP operative Hani Akkad who was killed in a gun battle with Israeli troops in Nablus yesterday.

The officials said the two women turned themselves in just hours after Akkad was killed and confessed to their plans to carry out a suicide bombing.