The military wing of the militant Islamic movement Hamas claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a crowded bus in Jerusalem that killed at least 11 people, Hizbollah's al-Manartelevision said.
"The person who carried out the Jerusalem martyrdom operation is Na'il Azmi Abu al-Hal of the [Izz el-Deen] al-Qassam Brigades," al-Manarsaid, giving no further details.
At least 11 commuters and schoolchildren were killed in the attack aboard a packed rush-hour bus in west Jerusalem.
The bomb ripped through bus number 20 in the Kiryat Menachem neighbourhood on the southwestern edge of the city at around 7.15 a.m., police said.
A major explosive charge went off at the front of the bus, indicating the Palestinian suicide bomber had just entered the vehicle when he detonated the bomb.
The bomber was believed to be a male (23), probably from the nearby Palestinian city of Bethlehem, where Israel ended its reoccupation in August and handed over security to the Palestinians.
The attack, in which at least 49 people were wounded, was the first since Prime Minister Mr Ariel Sharon called an early election after his broad coalition government with the centre-left Labour Party collapsed.
An Israeli government spokesman said this latest attack blocked further talks on a US-backed international peace "roadmap".
The attack also came a day after Israel's national bus company, Egged, said it is suing Mr Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority for $11 million in damages over its alleged role in suicide bombings and shooting attacks on its vehicles.
AFP