Palestinian suicide bomber strikes in Israel

BEERSHEBA, Israel - A Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up and critically wounded two guards at an Israeli bus station on Sunday in the first such attack since the eviction of Jewish settlers from Gaza and part of the West Bank.

The militant groups Islamic Jihad and al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, part of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction, said they planned the attack together in response to Israel's killing of five Palestinian gunmen three days ago.

The groups sent the bomber, 25-year-old Ayman Za'aqiq, from his village near the West Bank town of Hebron to carry out the attack in the nearby Israeli city of Beersheba, a spokesman for al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades said.

An Israeli police spokesman said nearly 50 people were treated at hospital, most of them for shock. The two guards, who chased the bomber, were critically hurt, the spokesman said.

Israel killed five Palestinians during a raid in the West Bank town of Tulkarm on Thursday, drawing vows of revenge by armed Palestinian groups.

Palestinian militant factions say a "period of calm" they announced in March at Abbas' urging will expire at year's end.

They have vowed to continue armed resistance following a Gaza pullout they have claimed as a victory and respond to Israeli attacks. Israel says it will continue to pursue militants it deems to be threats.

Abbas condemned the suicide bombing, calling it "a terrorist attack" in a statement issued by the official Palestinian news agency WAFA. He also condemned Israel's Tulkarm raid as a "provocation" and urged all sides to show restraint.

The explosion, at the entrance to Beersheba's central bus station, followed a call by US President George W Bush for the Palestinians to respond to last week's pullout from occupied Gaza by showing "they will fight terrorism".

Bush, who hopes the Gaza withdrawal will help revive a US-backed "road map" that envisages a viable Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel, stopped short of demanding Abbas dismantle militant groups.

Abbas has said he prefers to co-opt gunmen into the Palestinian security services and political system rather than dismantle them, as demanded by Israel and the United States.

Holding its weekly meeting against the backdrop of the Beersheba attack, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's cabinet took a key step towards ending Israel's 38-year-old military presence in Gaza.

By a vote of 18-2, it approved the deployment of 750 Egyptian border police on the Egyptian side of the Gaza frontier ahead of the Israeli withdrawal. The Egyptians are expected to help prevent arms smuggling to Palestinian militants.

Minutes before the Beersheba explosion, Israel Radio broadcast a pledge by Abbas to maintain indefinitely a ceasefire he declared along with Sharon in February.

"According to the agreement, the truce is continuing and it's not linked to a time ... and everyone knows that," Abbas told the radio.

Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said the bombing "proves once again how little is being done by the Palestinians to stop terrorism against us. We will not tolerate a continuation of a campaign of violence against our people."

- REUTERS