A bomber has blown himself up in the coastal city of Netanya in Israel, killing at least three Israelis, security sources say.

The explosion hit a shopping mall shortly before 7pm on Tuesday in Netanya, 12km from the West Bank.

Channel 10 television, quoting Israeli police, said three people had been killed.

In response to the attack, Israeli soldiers killed a Palestinian policeman during a West Bank raid early on Wednesday.

Israeli sources said at least 30 people were wounded in the shopping mall blast.

"We heard an explosion, people began to scream and ran to the other exit of the mall," Laura, a shop assistant at the Kenyon Hasharon mall told Israeli army radio.

The al-Quds brigades, linked to the Palestinian resistance group Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack, sources reported.

The bomber came from the Tulkarim area, said the source.

Condemnation

In Ram Allah, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned as "idiotic" the bombing and said those behind it would be punished.

"This was a crime against the Palestinian people and those who were behind it must be working against our people's interest and must be punished," Abbas told reporters.

"Those behind it were behaving idiotically. There is no rational Palestinian who can conduct such an act at the time Israel was withdrawing from ... settlements starting in Gaza and moving to the West Bank," he said, referring to upcoming Israeli withdrawal from occupied land Palestinians want for a state.

The chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, condemned the bombing. "We understand that those who carried out this attack want to sabotage the efforts being exerted to have a smooth and peaceful disengagement from Gaza and a revival of the peace process," he said.

Israeli response {mosgoogle right}

A source close to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said the latest attack was proof that the Palestinian Authority was "doing nothing to stop terrorism".

Israeli soldiers in some 20 military vehicles swept into Tulkarim early on Wednesday.

Troops fired in the air and then at a Palestinian police post in what witnesses called an unprovoked attack.

The Israeli military has also closed off the West Bank and Gaza Strip, banning Palestinians from entering the country, in response to the bombing.

The closure will mean that thousands of Palestinians who have work permits will not be allowed to enter Israel.

The military said the ban, a routine security measure after such an attack, would be in effect "until further notice". The ban was approved by the government, the military said.

Recommend this article...

Did you enjoy this article? Please bookmark it onto: