A Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up when Israeli troops tried to search him at a roadblock in the occupied West Bank today, killing an Israeli soldier and two other Palestinians.
A passenger who had unwittingly shared the same taxi as the bomber said soldiers stopped the car at an impromptu roadblock near the city of Tulkarm and asked young men to get out.
"The man got out slowly, closed his jacket and blew himself up," said Nafez Shahin.
The army said the roadblock had been set up in response to intelligence warnings that a bomber was heading to Israel to strike during the current Hanukkah holiday.
One soldier was killed and at least two other Palestinians died, the army said. Three soldiers and six Palestinians were wounded.
The bombing dealt a blow to a shaky 10-month-old truce by militants that is due to expire on Saturday, the last day of 2005. Growing violence has put peacemaking hopes on hold and could influence forthcoming elections on both sides.
Israel Radio said the Islamic Jihad militant group carried out the attack. The same group was behind the last suicide bombing in Israel, when five Israelis were killed on December 6th at a shopping mall in the coastal city of Netanya.
Islamic Jihad officials in Gaza could not confirm that the group was responsible, but vowed to strike "in the depth of the Zionist entity" to retaliate for Israel's imposition since yesterday of a "no-go zone" in the northern Gaza Strip.
Israeli troops sealed off Tulkarm and the government accused Islamic Jihad's leadership in Syria of planning the bombing. "They are trying all the time to carry out operations," said Deputy Defence Minister Zeev Boim. "A massive disaster was prevented."
Deputy Palestinian Prime Minister Nabil Shaath condemned the bombing and said it was a particular tragedy that Palestinians had been killed. "We want such operations stopped," he said.
Earlier, a Palestinian policeman and a gunman were killed when members of a local clan clashed with security forces in the Gaza Strip. Two other policemen and three bystanders were also wounded.
A Palestinian security source said the gunmen attacked a police station and a battle ensued. The motive of the gunmen was not immediately known.
The fighting was another sign of the growing anarchy in the territory involving militants, gangs and security forces since Israel withdrew from the territory in September. Lawlessness has been increasing in Gaza as rival armed groups try to stake a claim to power.
Any major surge of bloodshed could also complicate Palestinian parliamentary elections in January and even force a delay.
Earlier this week, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas tried to get militant leaders in Gaza to agree to halt the cross-border rocket fire and renew a pledge to follow a ceasefire that brought 10 months of relative calm.
But a leader of Islamic Jihad said he did not believe there would be a ceasefire extension.