May 20, 2003	Tuesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 17, 1424

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TEL AVIV, May 19: A suicide bomber killed three other people and injured around 30 in an attack at the entrance of a shopping centre in the northern Israeli town of Afula on Monday, the fifth such blast in 48 hours.

A worse bloodbath was averted when a woman guard posted at the mall’s entrance apparently prevented the bomber from entering, Israeli media said, adding that the guard was one of the dead.

The radical Palestinian group, Islamic Jihad, claimed responsibility for the blast in a telephone call made from the West Bank city of Jenin, some 10 kilometres from Afula.

Israel again blamed hardline groups and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat for the bombing.

“We are facing a well planned effort by terrorist organizations in coordination with Yasser Arafat to carry out as many attacks as possible,” an Israeli government spokesman said.

“We loosened our defence lately and made goodwill gestures toward the Palestinians, but this was our gruesome reward. Terrorist organizations took advantage of the situation to unleash this lethal frenzy on us,” the spokesman said.

“Our government took a certain number of decisions yesterday, including some we haven’t yet implemented. We will scrupulously follow them if this wave of attacks continues,” he said, without elaborating.

Two Jewish settlers were killed in the southern West Bank city of Al Khalil on Saturday night, while six Israelis and a Palestinian were killed in a bus bomb the next morning in occupied Al Quds.

Another bomber blew himself up moments later in the same area of the holy city, killing only himself, and a militant riding a bicycle wounded three soldiers in the Gaza Strip on Monday when he detonated explosives strapped to his body.

The first four attacks were all claimed by the Hamas.

Since Sunday’s bombing, expelling Yasser Arafat from his West Bank base has been on Israel’s again, although defence minister Shaul Mofaz said on Monday the timing was not right.

After Sunday’s attacks Israel slapped a total closure on the West Bank and Gaza Strip and tightened its isolation of Mr Arafat.—AFP