At least 35 people were injured, one seriously, late Monday in what could have been an intended suicide attack in Netanya, north of Tel Aviv, prompting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak to call an emergency security cabinet meeting, according to press reports.
"It could well be that the seriously injured man was one of the people behind the attack," Netanya police commissioner Danny Ronen told army radio, suggesting it could have been an intended suicide attack, said the agency.
Three explosions were reported in the coastal town of Netanya, north of Tel Aviv, in what first appeared to be an attack using a booby-trapped car.
The blast came as Palestinian President Yasser Arafat was expecting clarification from the White House on the US proposals for a peace agreement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Shortly after the Netanya explosion, top Arafat advisor Nabil Abu Rudeina announced outgoing US President Bill Clinton and Arafat could meet "very soon" in Washington, maybe within the next 24 hours. He said the two men discussed the idea by phone late Monday, said AFP.
The police said no claim had yet been laid for the attack, adding the blast was caused by an explosive charge of around ten kilos.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak summoned the security cabinet in Jerusalem Monday evening to discuss the Israeli response to the Netanya bomb attack.
Israeli television reported that the cabinet ended the meeting after nearly two hours, but did not take any "operational decision," according to AFP.
The security cabinet, which groups ministers dealing directly with security issues, met at the Knesset building with the chief of staff of the Israeli armed forces, General Shaoul Mofaz, and the head of the Shin Beth internal security service, Avi Dichter.
"It was a very serious attack," Gadi Baltiansky, spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, told Israeli public television.
Witnesses said the explosions happened in Herzl street, in the town center. The exits to this resort town were immediately sealed off by the security forces, while police bomb disposal experts combed the area of the explosion for any other devices.
Separately, the Israeli army closed down the Palestinian international airport in Gaza City.
Haaretz newspaper reported that Israel restricted the movement of Palestinian VIPs.
The VIPs will be barred from entering Israel and their movements will be restricted in parts of the territories under joint Israeli-Palestinian control, said the paper.
The last bomb attack in Israel left 13 injured December 28, when a device exploded at the back of a bus in the center of Tel Aviv.
"We have to pursue the negotiations despite this attack," Minister of Finance Avraham Shohat said Monday after the latest attack.
One of Barak's closest collaborators, Shohat is not however a member of the security cabinet.
According to Israeli military radio, the bomb exploded within a few yards of a bus station. The blast caused considerable damage, setting some nearby shops on fire, the agency said.
A Netanya police official was quoted by Israeli television as saying a car had been seen speeding out of Netanya towards the West Bank.
The injured have been taken to three different hospitals in the Tel Aviv region, said Kotler.
The Netanya bomb attack also comes after the death Sunday of extremist settler leader Binyamin Kahane and his wife in a Palestinian ambush, sparking calls for revenge from his supporters.
According to Haaretz, shortly after the car combs, Netanya residents rushed to the site for an impromptu demonstration.
Demonstrators shouted "death to the Arabs!", and attacked Barak's government, while crying "Hooray for Bibi [Benjamin Netanyahu]!"
Several right-wing leaders demanded that Barak break off talks with the Palestinians in response to the attack, as did chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau, said the paper -- (Several Sources)
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