MIDDLE EAST:Palestinian militant groups carried out their first suicide bombing in Israel in nine months, killing three people in the resort of Eilat yesterday.
The blast came four days before the "Quartet" of Middle East peacemakers was to meet in Washington in an effort to revive Israeli-Palestinian talks. Such efforts have recently been complicated by fierce Palestinian factional infighting.
Islamic Jihad and the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility for what was the first suicide attack in the Red Sea tourist town, and named a 21-year-old man from Gaza as the bomber. Israeli police said he had infiltrated from Egypt.
A spokesman for the Aqsa brigades, part of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction, identified the suicide bomber as Mohammad Faisal Siksik from Gaza City, a member of the brigades' "Army of Believers".
In Gaza meanwhile, rival Palestinian factions fought in the streets for a fifth consecutive day. At least two fighters died yesterday. Saudi Arabia has offered to host talks between Hamas and Fatah in the holy city of Mecca.
The fighting between the two groups has been the fiercest since Hamas won elections a year ago. Gun battles have spread across the densely populated Gaza Strip, where 1.5 million Palestinians live, prompting some families to flee their homes.
The latest deaths raised to 29 the number of people killed in clashes since Thursday. The fighting has derailed unity talks between Hamas and Fatah.
"What else can we call this but a civil war?" asked Abu Omar, a shop owner in Gaza City.
Eilat residents were jolted by what witnesses described as a powerful explosion in the Lechamim bakery in a residential neighbourhood of the city, far from its beach hotels.
"I saw a man with a black coat and a bag. For Eilat, where it is hot, it is strange to see someone walking with a coat," Benny Mazgini, a local resident, told Israel Radio. "I said to myself 'Why is this idiot dressed that way?' Seconds later, I heard a huge blast."
Prime minister Ehud Olmert said all three of those killed by the bomber were Israelis. He said Israel was weighing its response.
Islamic Jihad and the Aqsa brigades said the bombing was a response to Israeli "attempts to defile al-Aqsa mosque" in Jerusalem, a reference to recent archaeological excavations. Israeli officials said the work had not damaged the shrine.
Nearly 180,000 foreign tourists visited Eilat last year.