Kfar Saba during rush hour early Thursday, April 24, killing a security guard and wounding ten others, witnesses said.
The blast shattered hopes that Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat’s agreement with designated prime minister Mahmoud Abbas to form a government would quickly lead to peace.
Although there was no official claim of responsibility, Palestinian sources said a group linked to Arafat’s Fatah movement may have been behind the attack, the Voice of America (VOA) reported.
The bomber was identified as 18-year-old Ahmed Khatib from the Balata refugee camp near the West Bank city of Nablus, news reports said.
However the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) News Service quoted a regional police commander as saying that more casualties had been prevented as the attacker was spotted by a security guard.
"If he had managed to get inside the station, we would have seen many more casualties," Amichai Shai said.
Israel Radio reported that the guard approached the man because he was suspiciously wearing a black coat despite the warm weather.
A spokesman in Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s office called it a vicious attack against Israeli civilians. Palestinian Cabinet minister Yasser Abed Rabbo also condemned the bomb blast, saying the Palestinian Authority opposes all attacks against civilians, Israeli or Palestinian.
