Suicide blast punctures ME peace hopes

Israeli paramedics and policemen inspect the place where a suicide bomber wounded five Israeli people, two of them in a serious condition after he blew himself up near a bus station in southern Israeli city of Beer Sheva in the first attack since Israel evicted all of its settlers from the Gaza Strip. PHOTO: 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.

Police and witnesses said the attacker had blown up himself after being challenged by two security guards and a bus driver.

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

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the latest attack but it came just four days after five militants were killed by Israeli troops during an arrest operation in the West Bank town of Tulkarem.

Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas told reporters that he condemned the attack, describing it as a "terrorist operation."

His national security advisor Jibril Rajub said however Israel had to expect the consequence of its "crime" in Tulkarem.

"Israel must know that if it continues with this state terrorism it will lead to more violence in the region," Jibril Rajub told AFP.

Israel's Internal Security minister Gideon Ezra said that the action of the bus driver and security guards "had averted a major disaster".

Ezra said Israel would "not hesitate to respond" to the attack which he said underlined how "the Palestinian Authority must dismantle the terrorist groups."