Suicide blast punctures post-Gaza peace hopes

BEERSHEVA, Israel, Monday (AFP) A Palestinian blew himself up while trying to board a bus in southern Israel Sunday in the first suicide attack since the evacuation of settlers from Gaza, puncturing hopes that the historic pullout would break the cycle of violence.

Palestinian militant groups Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades linked to Fatah and Al-Quds Brigades of Islamic Jihad jointly claimed the bombing, in a statement sent to AFP.

Around 40 people were taken to hospital after the blast in Beersheva, the vast majority of them suffering from shock, although two were in a serious condition, medical sources said.

More serious carnage appeared to have been averted after security at the city's main terminus prevented the attacker from boarding.

The attack comes almost exactly a year to the day after 15 Israelis were killed in a twin attack on two buses in Beersheva.

"This operation is a response to the arrogance of the Zionist occupation, to the terrible massacre committed in Tulkarem against the mujahedin of the Al-Quds Brigades and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades," the groups said in a joint statement.

Earlier Sunday an anonymous caller had telephoned AFP, claiming responsibility for the attack in the two groups' names.

The statement said the attack was "a response to the Nazi declarations (by Israel) concerning the continued presence of its soldiers at access points to the Gaza Strip as well as the annexation of our people's land in Jerusalem."

An Israeli ministerial commission recommended on Friday that Israel maintain security control of the Gaza border despite the deployment of 750 Egyptian border guards to clamp down on smuggling. Israeli troops on Wednesday killed four activists of Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas's Fatah movement and a local leader of Islamic Jihad during an arrest operation in the West Bank town of Tulkarem.

Four masked gunmen from Islamic Jihad parading in the Gaza town of Khan Yunis earlier said the attack was revenge for the Israeli operation in Tulkarem, and warned of more strikes against Israel. "We will retaliate for Israeli attacks and we will continue our resistance in the West Bank," said one of the black-hooded men outside the town's centuries-old stone castle.

Earlier, the anonymous caller had told AFP the attack was carried out by a man named Alaa Zaakik, 25, from Beit Omar, which lies between Bethlehem and Hebron in the West Bank. But Zaakik's family, contacted by AFP, denied he had carried out the attack, stressing he was arrested for questioning by Israeli forces on Saturday. A Palestinian security source also said he could not have been the bomber.

The statement said the name of the suicide bomber "will be revealed later for security reasons."